Paul Pierce doesn’t care what kind of relationship Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum had during their time together with the Boston Celtics. He doesn’t think it should be a headline, either.
Following the blockbuster trade that sent Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers, NBA insider Shams Charania of ESPN reported on Tatum’s relationship with Brown away from the court.
Pierce couldn’t believe that such a detail would pass as news, considering it’s not uncommon for star duos to be distant from each other.
“Come on, man. What news? This is actually news,” Pierce said during an episode of No Fouls Given.
The former Celtics star also used past NBA superstar tandems to further stress his point.
“Did Shaq and Kobe hang out, get along? Did Mike and Scottie? Man, people live different lifestyles. That’s what you’ve got to understand, added Pierce.
“Everybody just because they look like they got the best relationship and the chemistry on the court don’t mean that’s what it’s gonna equal off the court.
You know what I’m sayin’? Some people got families. Some people are into different things off on their free time. It’s like, all right, that’s cool, and that’s okay if they didn’t hang out or communicate. Did we hear about any like scuffles?”
Tatum and Brown played several years together and led Boston to an NBA championship while making two trips to the NBA Finals. It’s easy for people to imagine that they were close to each other even when they were off the court, but even if that was not the case, that’s fine with Pierce.
Now that they play for rival Atlantic Division teams, there’s even more reason for Brown and Tatum to grow further apart, both personally and competitively.
H/T Courtside
