With everything going on in the media covering the back-and-forth between Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, it was only a matter of time until Joe Mazzulla got involved. He was asked for his thoughts on the comments from each player and perfectly broke down the situation in a respectful manner that made it clear where he and the Celtics stand.
I don’t necessarily think that Joe was trying to take shots or anything like that, but he’s very smart and well-trained in the media. He generally chooses his words wisely and doesn’t say anything without purpose.
So, I found it very notable that he used a few different powerful and likely purposeful phrases.
“They're just different. So you focus on the high character… But what we focus on now is Jayson. Jayson is our best player. Jayson is our highest-character guy. He's our guy. We focus on that, and we move forward.”
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Joe brought up character multiple times. He didn’t question Jaylen’s character or diminish it in any way, but made a point of emphasizing Tatum’s high character.
Refreshing to hear Tatum viewed as the Celtics' clear alpha
Also, it’s not exactly breaking news that Tatum is the Celtics’ best player, but talking about him like this is a stark contrast to everything we heard in the past when Brown was on the team. It was always about the Jays, about the two players as a duo, about having two superstars, and things like that.
Nobody ever came out and talked about Tatum as the team’s best player and Brown as a key part of the supporting cast. It’s clear that after the trade, there has been a massive organizational shift, and everything on and off the court is now running through Tatum.
Mazzulla couldn't have backed Tatum more strongly
Reading between the lines, I don’t think it’s hard to gather that Mazzulla is completely on board with this shift, and he’s happy that they are leaning into Tatum, someone he clearly holds in high esteem, not only as a player, but as a person.
And whether Joe knows what’s being said or not, he pretty much says everything that anyone should need to hear. We don’t have to get in the mud and break down every detail of every quote as Brown tries to stir up beef. Tatum has done nothing wrong and shown nothing but respect to JB.
He has taken the high road at every possible opportunity and continues to talk about Brown as a great player and person, and someone who he’ll always be connected with due to everything they accomplished together. Based on everything that’s going around, it certainly sounds like Tatum and Mazzulla are ready to move on, while Brown may still have some things to unpack, as he has tried to keep this “beef” alive.
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