As we inch closer to the big showdown between the Celtics and Jayson Tatum and the 76ers and Jaylen Brown on Tuesday night, all kinds of stories are trickling out in the media. Everyone has a story to tell, and drama sells. There’s plenty of drama in this story with Brown, the spurned lover who was shipped down the road to one of Boston’s biggest rivals.
But the drama that has ensued in recent weeks leading up to the first matchup has been a bit odd. It makes sense for Brown to be upset and hold a grudge. After all, he spent 10 years in Boston, gave his everything to the city and the organization, and helped them win a championship.
He never expressed any unhappiness or desire to leave, but the Celtics clearly decided it was time to move on from JB and his contract. It’s unfortunate, but it is what it is. The NBA is a cold-blooded business, and Brad Stevens and the Celtics made a cold-blooded move. And Brown has every right to be upset about that.
Brown's anger over trade is incredibly misguided
What doesn’t make sense is why it seems like he has so much animosity towards Tatum specifically. An ESPN story that came out on Tuesday morning, obviously from Brown’s camp, shed further light on the situation and explained how things went down.
Kris Rhim went into detail about how Brown was on vacation and found out the Celtics were shopping him in a deal for Giannis Antetokounmpo. Jaylen spoke with the team and told them he’d still be happy to say, but was informed that he was still going to be traded anyway.
Brown asked to have some say in where he was dealt, or at least to be kept in the loop, but apparently, he didn’t find out about the trade to Philadelphia until after it was finalized. So again, it’s understandable that he’s frustrated and upset, but it feels like his anger is misguided.
If he’s just angry at Brad and the team, so be it. But why does he think Tatum had something to do with this? If Jaylen didn’t even find out about the deal until after the fact, why would Jayson have known about it? Brad insisted he did not and said he didn’t want to put him in that spot. But for whatever reason, Brown obviously doesn’t believe that.
Why does Brown hold a grudge against Tatum?
At the end of the day, it’s done now. Brown can believe whatever he wants, and if this helps fuel him and motivate him, then more power to him. But unless there’s something more to this story that hasn’t come out yet, it just seems weird that Brown won’t talk to Tatum, that he says they have “lamb chops and some gravy” (instead of beef), that he called “cap” on Tatum being surprised about the deal, that he said Tatum has a “hell of a PR team”, and that he should “stay ready at all times”.
That certainly sounds like beef to me, and it seems extremely one-sided. Tatum has insisted he knew nothing about the trade and had nothing to do with it. He said he called and texted Jaylen after the deal but got no answer. And he has repeatedly said it’s nothing but respect on his end.
For whatever reason, Brown doesn’t seem to see it that way, and he is clinging to this beef and drama and milking it for all it's worth. He’s entitled to his opinion, but it doesn’t make a lot of sense. Hopefully someday we’ll find out more, or JB will be ready to talk and patch things up, but for now, he looks like he’s being petty, perhaps even jealous, and that he has some misguided anger.
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