Jayson Tatum says he never wanted Jaylen Brown to be traded

The criticism has quieted now. The trade chatter is gone. Tatum and Brown are locked up for the foreseeable future. It’s not exactly the yin and yang dynamic Cousy and Russell enjoyed, but during the postseason Tatum led the Celtics in points, rebounds and assists. Brown distinguished himself with his defense on Luka Doncic in the Finals. “We’ve figured out that we need each other,” Tatum says. “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 as a floor and guys who are the best teammates that we can be.” -via Sports Illustrated / July 25, 2024

“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. 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.’ ” -via Sports Illustrated / July 25, 2024

Over the years, Tatum has often been first to collect the accolades: All-Star, All-NBA. As teammates, they are friendly. As high-level wing players, they are, at times, competitors. Tatum recalls a stretch during the 2019–20 season, when both knew they were battling for one All-Star spot. Tatum got it. “And I knew he was happy for me,” Tatum says. “But when you are a competitor, you want what’s in front of you.” Similarly, Tatum wanted Finals MVP this year. But to see Brown get recognized, Tatum says, “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,” Tatum says. “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.” -via Sports Illustrated / July 25, 2024