Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown Discuss Coping with Media Scrutiny: ‘Does Affect You’

Eric Jay Santos | Jun 6, 2024

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The Boston Celtics are set to face off against the Dallas Mavericks in the highly-anticipated 2024 NBA Finals. Being the top superstars on the powerhouse Celtics, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have been the subject of media scrutiny over the past week. 

Holding the best record in the NBA this season, ridicule directed towards the dynamic duo has become comedic at times. Recently, critics questioned whether Tatum smiled enough when Brown was named this year’s Eastern Conference Finals MVP. 

Per Inside The Celtics, Tatum believes that his family is more bothered by scrutiny than himself. 

“I think, more so than me, it's my mom, my grandma, my family and friends. They're more bothered by it than me. I understand. If Deuce was to make it to the NBA, people were talking about him every single day, as a parent, I wouldn't be able to separate the superstar from the child. My mom took it a little tougher than maybe I did. But for me, I don't take it personal. Just a long break without NBA basketball, so they had to overanalyze every little thing, have something to talk about.”

Brown is also desensitized to negative opinions. 

"I think it's fair to say that it does affect you being embraced versus being scrutinized… You get to a point where it's like you get scrutinized enough for a large part of your career, it becomes normal. Then it just rolls off you. For me, at least, I can say. I don't know if Jayson feels the same way. It's kind of been that my whole career in a sense. Just being booed when you were drafted to saying you were overpaid, saying you were overpaid again. It's been that the whole journey for me. It just becomes another headline.”