If Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are carrying any bad blood after the Celtics moved Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers, it would be a disappointing ending to one of the NBA’s most durable star pairings.
For years, they were the kind of duo teams point to when they want proof that a partnership can survive pressure, criticism and constant second-guessing. They showed that a franchise does not have to blow everything up the moment things get messy. Their run together became a model of staying power.
That is why Tatum’s recent comments at a camp in St. Louis drew so much attention.
In a speech shared on social media, he said, “Being a leader doesn’t mean you know it all, right?” Tatum added, “I don’t know it all.
I’ll be the first person to say that. Being a leader is being comfortable with raising your hand, like, ‘I don’t know, can you explain that to me?’
‘I don’t know XYZ. I want to learn.’
Being around somebody that feels like they know it all, I don’t want to be around that person. I don’t want to be the smartest person in the room.
I want to learn from somebody else.”
Tatum could have been talking simply about the value of coachability. That part of the message fits him.
He has long come across as a player who wants to keep adding to his game, his body and his overall understanding of what it takes to win. The video, which first appeared on his foundation’s Instagram page, carried a point he clearly believes in.
He kept going with the same theme: “Asking questions, being vulnerable - it is OK not to know something,” Tatum continued. “It’s not OK not to ask questions and not to want to learn.
Because it’s not how we’re going to get better at anything in life. Not just basketball.
Whatever you want to do in life, you have to ask questions. You have to listen.
You have to learn.”
Even so, the wording was enough to get people wondering whether Brown was the target. That speculation did not come out of nowhere.
Before the 2016 draft, an anonymous NBA executive told sports writer Marc Spears that Brown might be “too smart for the league.” Earlier this offseason, Fox Sports analyst Colin Cowherd said two NBA sources told him Brown has “a disease” where “he suddenly thinks he’s the smartest guy in every room he’s in.”
Whether Tatum meant any of that as a jab may never be known. But once the Celtics split the duo this summer, every little remark was bound to be examined. Tatum has shown appreciation for what Brown meant to him, though there were also signs in their final season together that, at least from a basketball standpoint, the two may not have been on the same page anymore.
Still, none of that changes the bigger picture. Their partnership deserves to be remembered for more than the 2024 championship. It was also a story of surviving the hard stuff and coming out the other side.
They lived through the Kyrie Irving season, the Ime Udoka scandal and a string of painful playoff defeats. They also endured years of outside noise about whether they could really coexist.
Through all of it, they stayed together for nine extremely successful seasons. In a league where players bounce around more than ever, that kind of run matters.
Doing it while absorbing setback after setback, then responding again and again, says plenty about both of them.
Now they are on different sides, and that should make next season’s Celtics-76ers matchups even more compelling. Brown will have his own reasons to come at the team that chose not to keep both stars together at that price.
Will he isolate Tatum possession after possession? Will he throw up a throat-slashing gesture toward Joe Mazzulla?
Will he stare Brad Stevens down before the opening tip? Those possibilities are very much part of the appeal.
And Brown will not be the only storyline. LeBron James will get another shot to stick it to his longtime rival.
Because the Celtics indirectly sent James to Philadelphia, he could make Stevens look bad by helping fuel a big season for the 76ers. Paul George will also be facing his former team, while the Celtics will be trying to bounce back after blowing a 3-1 lead against Philadelphia in the first round of the playoffs.
However those games play out, fans will be watching Tatum and Brown closely. Whatever they feel about each other now, the partnership they built already left a mark.
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For Celtics fans, the wrinkle is Jayson Tatum, the St. Louis native who is back home this week for his sixth annual foundation golf tournament. Any talk of relocation remains uncertain, but his name has surfaced because of the growing speculation around Portlands future, and that is enough to make Boston pay attention. Even when the Celtics are not directly involved, Tatums ties to St. Louis have a way of pulling him into stories that can take on a life of their own. [Read more 🡒]