A split with no fight behind it
Boston’s version of how the Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum era wound down is a quiet one. In a long piece from The Athletic, sources who spoke anonymously say there was no conflict between the two stars during their final season together. Brown and Tatum never had a big argument or a fight, according to those around the Celtics’ practice facility.
Derrick White put it most bluntly. “I didn’t feel any (tension),” he said. “Those are two guys that wanted to win. Two guys that are really talented that can do a lot of different things and competed at that level together. I didn’t think there were any problems. No beef.”
no renewal
Free for 2 weeks.
Where Brown’s frustration came from
The reporting points somewhere else. After Boston’s playoff exit, Brown made clear to the front office that he wanted to be treated more like a franchise player, on and off the court, according to league sources. He had agreed to sacrifice parts of his game when asked in earlier years. Then he averaged 28.7 points per game and landed on the All-NBA second team, and he felt he had earned the treatment reserved for the league’s premier players, Tatum included.
Tracy McGrady, a friend of Brown’s, said on his podcast around that time that Brown’s frustrations “lie deeply within the (Celtics) organization.” The story is about status and standing, not a feud with his co-star.
Discover the rest of our NBA news on MathODDS!
in your pocket.
Real-time notifications & alerts
Leave a Reply