For almost a decade, Jaylen Brown played alongside one of the best players in the NBA, acting as an elite complementary star next to Jayson Tatum, who made the All-NBA First Team four years in a row. Brown was probably overqualified to be a number two, but he was also obviously never on Tatum’s level.
The Celtics were always Tatum’s team. Tatum was always the number one option. And yet, nobody would ever come out and say it, least of all Brown. The two had a positive but sometimes awkward and contentious dynamic, with a competitive relationship despite being very successful teammates.
If JB felt that he was second fiddle to JT, he certainly never made it known, and for the good of the team and everyone’s ego, it felt like everyone danced around the topic and walked on eggshells for years, talking about the Celtics as a team with a superstar duo in the Jays instead of one superstar in Tatum and a complementary star in Brown, which was always the reality.
Brown says 76ers are Tyrese Maxey's team
But now, after being on the 76ers for just eight games, Brown seemingly has no problem ceding power and authority to Tyrese Maxey, as he did in his postgame press conference on Monday night.
“Maxey’s been leading the way, 100%. He’s been here; this is his team… I’m finding my footing, but Maxey’s been leading the way for sure.”
On the surface, there’s nothing wrong with these comments, and it’s big of Brown to be able to say this publicly. After all, Brown was on the All-NBA Second Team just last season and finished 6th in MVP voting, while Maxey made the Third Team and didn’t factor into the MVP conversation at all.
That’s what makes it all the more bizarre. For years, it felt like Brown wanted to compete with Tatum for the spotlight and wasn’t willing to concede the fact that it was Tatum’s team all along. Now, he’s readily doing so for Maxey, a great player, but someone who’s nowhere close to the level of a Jayson Tatum.
JB has either been humbled by the trade or he's throwing shade at Tatum
It makes you think there has to be more going on here, and either one of two things is at play. If you choose to assume the best, maybe being traded was a bit of a wake-up call for Brown and inspired some self-reflection. It was a humbling experience and one that allowed him to take a more wholesome approach to his situation.
The other option is to assume that he’s being petty and trolling Tatum and the Celtics. Part of the trade was clearly that Boston did not think JB would ever be willing to take a backseat to JT, so he’s sticking it to them by publicly deferring to Maxey like this. Brown is very intelligent and generally chooses his words carefully, so it’s hard to believe this was just an accident or a coincidence.
He has made it clear in some of his other media comments that he’s still not over being traded and has some animosity towards the Celtics organization and Tatum specifically, for some reason. So it would fall in line with that for him to be using this quote as a bit of a subliminal shot across the bow at Tatum and the Celtics.
Whatever it is, it’s certainly odd, but I’m glad that Brown has experienced some growth. The Sixers are off to a great start, and for them to reach their ceiling, they are going to need Brown and everyone else to fall in line and realize that Maxey is the guy. Whether Jaylen truly believes it or not, at least he’s saying the right things.
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