Celtics fans might actually hate having Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum on their team

Thank goodness Boston Celtics basketball is almost back. Sure, it’s been nice to have some time off and enjoy other forms of entertainment (movies, TV, whatever you’d like to insert works), but man, do people not know what to do with themselves when they’re bored.

In the week since the Celtics beat the brakes off the Chicago Bulls, their fanbase has completely lost its mind. The discourse around Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, as Tatum nears a return from the torn Achilles tendon he sustained last spring, has reached a disgusting level of brain rot.

Some fans and media members (mostly sports talk radio) have restarted their “drive a wedge between Boston’s two best players” campaign.

As the team went into the break sitting second in the Eastern Conference, Brown shared a comparison between this season’s team and last year’s at the same point of the campaign to his Instagram story.

Was he just simply proud of what he and his teammates have achieved despite being written off by just about everyone with a pen before the season?

No, of course not! Why would he ever be proud of that?

Instead, the discussion pivoted to, “Jaylen Brown takes a shot at Jayson Tatum.” With Tatum only being able to look on from the bench, which he’s done almost every game while injured, Brown had to be pointing out that they were doing this all without him, right?

The discourse became so misguided that Brown had to clarify that the post came from a place of pride, rather than as a slight to his teammate, during a recent interview with CelticsBlog’s Noa Dalzell.

“The thing I posted, that was about celebrating our group,” he told Dalzell in an exclusive conversation. “People make it seem like it was about me, because that’s what people wanted it to be about. But in reality, I’m just so proud of our group. I’m extremely proud.”

He later reposted the same statistics to Twitter/X to clarify his motivation.

Jayson Tatum isn't allowed to celebrate his progress now?

Then, on Tuesday’s edition of WEEI Afternoons, co-host Andy Hart suggested that a tweet sent by Tatum, acknowledging the 40 weeks since he initially tore his Achilles, was actually a shot at Brown.

“40 weeks (praying emoji),” Tatum wrote. “I’ve really grown to appreciate this journey I’ve been on and allow time for me to pat myself on the back for showing up everyday!”

Hart suggested that Tatum was actually poking fun at Brown, who “patted himself on the back” for the team’s impressive first 54 games. Not only that, but he discredited the rehab work Tatum has done to this point, saying that he’s just doing his job.

The last part in itself is asenine. To suffer what could've been a career-ending injury, and attack rehab the way Tatum has to this point is an achievment. Anyone who's recovered from any serious injury will tell you how trying the fight back to full strength can be. He absolutely deserves to admire his work there.

Here’s the full clip:

We're still doing the "Can they play together?" thing?

This isn’t anything new, though.

Ever since the prospect of a Tatum return became real, like really real, people haven’t known what to do with themselves. There's been significant chatter regarding whether not adding the multi-time First-Team All-NBA forward back into the fold will derail Boston’s season.

“Is he going to disrupt the chemistry that this group has spent months developing?”

Maybe for a week or two.

Beyond that, it’s ridiculous to worry that bringing Tatum back will actually be bad for the Celtics.

“But, Jaylen Brown is playing the best basketball of his career!”

Yeah, he is. He’s been fantastic, and should be allowed all of the self back-patting he wants, by the way.

You know when else he was playing at his peak?

When the Celtics ran through the rest of the league en route to the 2024 NBA Championship. Brown averaged nearly 24 points per game on just under 52% from the field during the title run. His performance from March 2024 through the end of the Finals was probably the best stretch of hoops he’s ever played -- until this year.

Now, JB looks primed to land on an All-NBA team, probably the first, behind 29.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game on 48.3% from the field.

Spectators throughout the fanbase and around the league quickly forgot how important he’d been, despite winning the Finals MVP, after he played through a torn meniscus last season. Brown didn’t produce at the same level while playing injured. Big surprise.

Regardless, anyone who is afraid that the two won’t be able to coexist when Brown is playing his best basket just needs to think back and remember what he did in 2024. The evidence is right there. Go re-watch the games.

To be fair, the silent majority of the fanbase is simply excited to see the two stars playing alongside one another once again. It’s the loud majority that are making their feelings heard. That loud majority, however, makes the rest of us all look bad. So to those people, please, get some help, watch this El Paso Tacos commerical, do something.