Jayson Tatum Gets Candid about Relationship with Jaylen Brown: 'Could Have Done a Better Job'

Bobby Krivitsky | Jul 25, 2024

Jun 12, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) and guard Jaylen Brown (7) celebrate after a play during the first quarter in game three of the 2024 NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports / Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Even before breaking through to their first championship, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown reached impressive heights. They went to the Eastern Conference Finals in four of their first six years together. That includes coming within two wins of an NBA title in 2022.

And in their first chance to share the court in their primes, the Celtics star duo reached the mountaintop, leading the franchise to a record-setting 18th banner.

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But every step of the way, there's been drama. When Boston drafted Brown third overall in 2016, the pick got met with boos by fans hoping the organization would select Kris Dunn, who the Bulls had an interest in and acquired in a draft-night deal where Chicago parted with Jimmy Butler, sending him to the Timberwolves.

The dream scenario for Celtics fans was bringing Butler on board to entice Kevin Durant to take his talents to Beantown. Instead, the four-time scoring champion signed with the Warriors that summer.

Since then, Brown's name has gotten bandied about in trade rumors involving the likes of Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, Anthony Davis, and Durant.

The latter came on the heels of Brown leading Boston in scoring in the 2022 NBA Finals. Later that offseason, Tatum worked out with Durant, prompting the other half of the Celtics' star duo to organize a conference call with Tatum and the franchise's president of basketball operations, Brad Stevens.

"(Kevin Durant) and (Jayson Tatum) are friends," Brown told Logan Murdock of The Ringer. "They was working out together and whatnot. So, I wasn't sure what the energy was. I wasn't sure what the direction of the organization was."

Regarding the message he delivered to Brown on that phone call, Tatum later shared: "Without him, we can't reach our goals. You guys know that. The world knows that. The team knows that. We need him to be the best version of ourselves."

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But in an interview with Chris Mannix, Tatum, who graces the cover of Sports Illustrated's 70th-anniversary issue, acknowledged that there are times he could have done a better job publicly combatting rumors about Boston trading Brown to pair the former Duke Blue Devil with a different star teammate.

"I've always told him that maybe I could have done a better job of voicing my feelings in the public eye," said Tatum. "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 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.'"

While some took that public silence as a sign that the two don't get along, in reality, the roots of their relationship run deep.

Tatum and Brown roomed at KD Elite Camp. They did so again at the Under Armour All-American game. When Danny Ainge asked the latter for his thoughts on the Celtics drafting the former, Brown voiced his respect for Tatum and endorsement of that decision to Ainge, the team's president of basketball operations at the time.

Discussing how their relationship has evolved since they first teamed in Boston, leading the franchise to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals and nearly besting LeBron James in their first season together, Brown conveyed the following to Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson on All The Smoke.

"He'll probably say I'm a little outside of the box, and he's probably a little bit more cut and simple; he just keep it simple, and in a weird way, it works because we lack what each other has."

The three-time All-Star continued, "We've got an understanding of each other, a respect for each other, our families is close. My brother babysit his son. We (are) different. We got different mindsets. But at the same time, I think we respect each other."

As talking heads continued questioning a relationship they knew little about, Celtics' head coach Joe Mazzulla eloquently eviscerated the contrived narrative about the two.

"I think it's stupid that people have to use those two guys' names and (to) use information that they don't know to create clickbait so that they can stay relevant," stated Boston's bench boss during a scathing rant.

And while Tatum led the Celtics in points (22.2), rebounds (7.8), and assists (7.2) in the NBA Finals, he shared with Mannix that seeing Brown receive the Bill Russell MVP Trophy "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," expressed Tatum. "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."

Discussing their growth to break through to their first championship after years of heartache, Tatum voiced, "We've figured out that we need each other." The five-time All-Star continued, "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 (of the) floor and guys who are the best teammates that we can be."

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Tatum also discussed what reaching the NBA summit alongside Brown means to him in an appearance on Sports Illustrated's 10 Burning Questions.

"We did all the things that they said we could not do," stated Tatum. "(I'll) forever be grateful for him."

Further Reading

Summer League Struggles Offer Valuable Lessons to Jordan Walsh

D.J. MacLeay Shares How Baylor Scheierman Impressed Him in Celtics Win vs. Lakers

Jaylen Brown 'Wasn't Surprised' by Olympic Snub: 'All the Motivation in the World'

Celtics Rookie Anton Watson Shares Brad Stevens' Message to Him

Celtics' Coaching Staff Changes Match Theme of Boston's Offseason

Celtics Roster, Salary Cap Breakdown After Whirlwind Start to Free Agency

New Details about Plan to Sell Majority Stake in Celtics Revealed

Brad Stevens Shares His Outlook on Celtics' Draft Picks

Al Horford, Raising Cane's, and a Region that Loves Him

On Derrick White and the Fuel for Unprecedented Journey to NBA's Best Role Player

Jayson Tatum, an NBA Champion Entering Peak of His Powers