Inside The Celtics

Celtics' Jayson Tatum Fires Back After Brandon Jennings Called Him Soft

Matt Levine

Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
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The Boston Celtics have jumped out to be one of the better teams in the NBA once again this season. Despite some injury concerns throughout, Boston has stuck together and looked like one of the favorites to win it all once again.

More news: Former Celtics Star Shaquille O'Neal Goes After Longtime Rival Dwight Howard Yet Again

Led by the star duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, Boston has all the tools to be a dangerous team. However, one former NBA guard gave a curious take on Tatum.

Brandon Jennings appeared on the Gilbert Arenas podcast and went after the Celtics star. Jennings called Tatum soft for not winning the NBA Finals MVP last season.

"Yo, is he the softest Boston Celtics superstar ever?....If you're so tough, why didn't you get MVP last year."

Well Tatum didn't let this slide and fired right back at the former NBA guard.

Tatum clearly feels a certain way about this otherwise he wouldn't have responded to it. It was out of line for Jennings to call him soft and Tatum responded in the best way he probably could.

While the Celtics star didn't win the MVP honor at the NBA Finals, he helped get the Celtics the opportunity to win it all. It's a team sport and the star players don't always win the NBA Finals MVP.

Even Steph Curry, Kobe Bryant, and others have won NBA titles without winning the MVP honor in the past. It doesn't make them any less of a star player and Tatum still has a championship to his name.

Tatum's trainer, Drew Hanlen, took issue with the comment and fired back at Jennings.

“I liked Brandon Jennings as a player but we gotta stop the [cap]… His comment that Tatum is ‘soft’ is pathetic. A soft player couldn’t lead their team in PTS, REB & AST to a title. A soft player wouldn’t have 51 in a G7 or 31/11/8 to win finals.”

Tatum will go on with his day-to-day and continue to help lead the Celtics forward. At the end of the day, he can't listen to the outside noise and has the task of helping Boston repeat as champions to do.

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Jayson Tatum's Trainer Fires Back at Brandon Jennings Calling the Celtics Star 'Soft'

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Matt Levine
MATT LEVINE

Matt earned a Master of Science degree in Sport Management from Louisiana State University in 2021. He was born and raised in the Los Angeles area, covering all Southern California sports in his career.

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