For years, the relationship between Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown has been plagued by rumors of discord and tension. Tatum maintains that was never the case, but admitted in a new interview that he is part of the reason those rumors were able to take hold.
The Boston Celtics star admitted to Chris Mannix of SI that, in the past, he could have done a better job of publicly asserting Brown’s importance to the team. Tatum confessed that he has never been the type to go to the front office and make demands about players, which has been interpreted by many as passiveness regarding Brown’s status.
“I’ve always told him that maybe I could have done a better job of voicing my feelings in the public eye,” Tatum admitted. “He always knew that I wanted him here. I would always tell him like, ‘Man, I don’t get involved with any of those talks.’ I never went to Brad [Stevens] or went to any player like, ‘Yo, I want this guy in, I want this guy out of here.’ I show up and I want to do my job and play basketball. And looking back on in those moments, I didn’t know how that could affect somebody, because I was never in that situation. I feel like maybe I could have done a better job of publicly saying, ‘No, we don’t want anybody, we want JB.’ I just was always like, ‘I want to stay out of it.'”
Tatum’s stance was certainly well-intentioned, but it allowed rumors to fill the void. It got to the point that rival coaches were trying to exploit some perceived feud during the 2024 playoffs.
Presumably, Tatum and Brown will not have to deal with this chatter now that they have won a championship together. Then again, it’s already clear that the doubters will not go away completely.
