From Jayson Tatum's new Sports Illustrated interview:
Few teammate dynamics have been as scrutinized as those of Tatum and Brown. Drafted a year apart, they had quick success, making the conference finals in two of their first three seasons together. Brown, though, constantly found his name in trade rumors, the result of a run of star players (Kawhi Leonard, Anthony Davis and Kevin Durant) becoming available and the flexibility the Celtics had to acquire them.
Meanwhile, the relationship between the two stars has been nitpicked incessantly. A rough stretch can lead to a media colonoscopy. Hell, even a good stretch. After Brown was named MVP of the conference finals, ESPN used video of Tatum applauding—apparently not emphatically enough—to suggest that the two weren’t really close. “Like I wasn’t happy for him?” Tatum says. “Yeah that was tough. Because then we had 10 days off. I was just like, ‘F—, can we start playing?’ ”
Tatum will cop to some missteps over the years. But he insists he never wanted Brown to be traded. “Most stars don’t make a conference finals until they are 27, 28,” Tatum says. “We were doing it when we were 19, 20.” He does admit, however, that he could have been more vocal.
“I’ve always told him that maybe I could have done a better job of voicing my feelings in the public eye,” Tatum says. “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 [Celtics president of basketball operations] 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.’ ”
Over the years, Tatum has often been first to collect the accolades: All-Star, All-NBA. As teammates, they are friendly. As high-level wing players, they are, at times, competitors. Tatum recalls a stretch during the 2019–20 season, when both knew they were battling for one All-Star spot. Tatum got it. “And I knew he was happy for me,” Tatum says. “But when you are a competitor, you want what’s in front of you.” Similarly, Tatum wanted Finals MVP this year. But to see Brown get recognized, Tatum says, “made me genuinely happy.”
“I feel like he has gotten a short end of the stick, whether it’s All-Star selections or All-NBA,” Tatum says. “I feel like he, in a sense, made up for some of those shortcomings that people didn’t vote him for. I was happy that he got it.”
“We’ve figured out that we need each other,” Tatum says. “We have learned how to coexist. And we know we need to be the best version of ourselves in order for all of this to work. We weren’t necessarily the best playmakers early in our careers but we developed into guys that really bleed the game. We want to be a great example of guys that play on both ends as a floor and guys who are the best teammates that we can be.”
by Tasty-Performance275
21 Comments
Remember 2 years ago, the JB for KD talks were actually happening. I actually thought it was going to happen
F me, I guess
-Derrick White
lol JT might actually not have aura, how did he not just play the game and support his team mate?
Tatum was in trade talks for davis wasnt he
I think Tatum may just be a himbo.
Oh man the Cousy quotes here are gold:
> Yet to Cousy, the image of his 27-year-old self deftly dribbling through traffic is nearly unrecognizable. “I’m in double overtime of life,” he says.
and
> In five years as union president Cousy’s greatest accomplishment was getting owners to raise per diem from $5 a day to $7. “I was a hero for that,” Cousy says. In ’63, Cousy was the NBA’s highest-paid player, at $35,000 per year. Last summer, Jaylen Brown signed a five-year extension worth north of $50 million a season. “I held out for $10,000,” cracked Cousy, “so Jaylen could hold out for [$304] million.”
This team is cooked, downvote me all you want but this olympics fiasco has brought a lot to light, I dont think either of them leave soon (probably wait until their contract ends and leave in FA or asks for a trade when there is one year left)
Incredibly mature take from JT
There were initial trade rumors involving Tatum but that was at the highest of levels whereas with Jaylen, he was mocked for the extension he signed even last season, with names all across the spectrum being forecast next to Tatum instead of him. He’s always been little brother, always been someone fans mocked in trades, kinda been an easy target on social media, and more…and he’s also sensitive. He’s the kind of guy who reads that stuff so that doesn’t help.
Tatum seems like a very well considered guy and he’s mild mannered and quiet. He’s vocal when he needs to be but that’s not his default nature. He’s not really responsible for Jaylen’s feelings, but it is a sign of leadership for him to really make it clear to his teammate that he has his back. That’s leadership and that is what teammates should do for each other in those moments.
It’s hard not to feel a measure of insecurity when someone around the same age as you on the same team gets the accolades and shine whereas you’re viewed as someone almost holding him back. Jaylen to me can be pretty aloof, but it’s hard not to feel insecurity in that situation. Sometimes it takes guys a bit more time to fully put their games together. Imagine if Jaylen’s 3 ball goes back to the high-30s again.
After what Jaylen did in this playoff run, his status in this league is stamped and I’m happy for him and happy for the Celtics, because their project finally has paid off.
Copying Obama not commenting on the Democrat nominee drama?
Bro Tatum has gotten so mature, we really are so lucky to have them both!!
He wanted to stay out of it because he secretly wanted JB traded
That’s my mf superstar
Speaking truth… wise beyond his years
You wanted JBrown gone for KD. We know the truth Tatum.
Tatum is avoidant attachment just like me fr
>After Brown was named MVP of the conference finals, ESPN used video of Tatum applauding—apparently not emphatically enough—to suggest that the two weren’t really close.
ESPN is a cancer to NBA coverage
>a media colonoscopy
what kind of thing is that to say
No aura.
Tatum’s take on Brown trade rumors shows how tough it is to balance personal feelings with public perception in sports.
Hnn ur be i