Some doubting viability of the ‘Jays’ remaining Boston Celtics teammates long-term

The sentimental value attached to the era of the ‘Jays’ will always be strong for Boston Celtics fans who have watched Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum both grow into All-Star caliber players leading the charge for the co-leaders in all-time NBA Championships in the 2020s.

That progress started at the beginning of the last decade when the pair were mere bit players on the 2016-2019 teams that had two Eastern Conference Finals trips and one magical 2018 postseason run that had many convinced this core would win many titles together.

For the past two seasons, that idea has been scoffed at, with the Cs contending for low postseason seeds with franchises that are in their conference seeding slots almost by default.

The visions of annual battles with the likes of LeBron James or Steph Curry (or Chris Paul and Devin Booker, I suppose) in the NBA Finals have been dashed repeatedly by some of the game’s greats. The Brooklyn Nets big three of Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving put down the Celtics in 2021, and Jimmy Butler was the alpha-dog on the Miami Heats down in the Lake Buena Vista pandemic bubble.

Now, in the midst of a season in which the Boston Celtics have fallen under .500 with more than a quarter of the campaign done with already, many are turning against the ‘Jays’, even going as far as to say they may be best split apart.

Here’s Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer (transcript via Fadeaway World):

"I think this is definitely the beginning of the end for the Jayson Tatum – Jaylen Brown pairing. I don’t know if that will get broken up this season. But I think sometime in the next 12-18 months we’re really going start to hear about to hear the conversations about the future of Boston with Jaylen Brown heading out the door."

And Chowder and Champions’ Owen Crisafulli:

"Tatum has shown that he is capable of taking charge of this offense, but that hasn’t been with Brown in the lineup.Until these two can prove they can work together, these questions will continue to be asked, and the front office may be forced into investing in a future where these two aren’t working together. Here’s to hoping that isn’t the case."

Clearly, confidence is lacking in the backbone of the Boston Celtics. But in reality, there is no rush for President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens to get rid of either one of them.

Smaller moves closer to the deadline could get the narrative out of doom and gloom territory, where everything Cs related has been located since the start of a once-in-a-lifetime empty arena 2020-21 crapshoot of a season.

The Houdini has said it before but has no problems saying it again: breaking up the ‘Jays’ should truly only happen if one of them forces Stevens’ hand. We do seem to be in an increasingly shrinking crowd that agrees.