For years, Jaylen Brown found his name come up in trade talks and Jayson Tatum regrets not publicly supporting his longtime co-star in those times. During an interview with Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix, Tatum made it clear he never wanted Brown to be traded by the Boston Celtics.
“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,” Tatum continued. “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.’”
I think it’s fair that Tatum doesn’t really want to get involved when it comes to roster moves, but there probably should have been some exceptions. Brown would have been just that and his teammate would have greatly appreciated some public support.
Regardless, Tatum’s inaction on that front doesn’t seem to have negatively affected their relationship. Brown ultimately was never traded despite growing calls for the Celtics to break up the duo and land a superstar like Kevin Durant. The two of them rewarded the team for sticking with them by helping clinch that long-awaited title.
Brown has often played second fiddle to Tatum during their time as teammates but during this title run, the roles were somewhat reversed. It was Brown who won Eastern Conference Finals MVP and then Finals MVP as well. After being overshadowed by Tatum for so long, the 27-year-old got his time in the sun at last.
With that triumph, I think it’s safe to say Brown won’t be finding his name in trade talks from now on. Instead of trading anyone away, the Celtics are running it back now by bringing back all their key pieces. They want to be the first team to repeat as champions since the dynastic Golden State Warriors. I think the Celtics are the favorites, but there is a reason why no one has repeated it after 2018.
Brad Stevens played a big role in keeping the star duo together and would have felt vindicated when they led the team to the title. Following that triumph, Stevens passionately defended Brown and Tatum.
“The criticism is stupid. I don’t care. Those two have achieved more than most 25, 26-year-olds ever had. The scrutiny was because they were playing in late May and June… I’d rather be in the mix and have my guts ripped out, than suck. And those two have been really good for a long time.”
It’s true that Tatum and Brown were held to a different standard than most players of their age because they made deep playoff runs at a young age. So many of the great players only got over the line in their late 20s but these two weren’t being given that time to grow. Stevens didn’t let the outside noise influence him and it paid off.
