I’ll never understand why Jayson Tatum receives some of the criticism that he does. I get that some fans are always going to be haters and some media members have agendas and narratives to push, but when his own peers take shots at him, that just seems weird to me, and that’s exactly what happened with Lonzo Ball recently.
On a recent episode of the Ball in the Family podcast, the hosts were discussing Jaylen Brown and whether his number should be retired in Boston someday (it should), but it quickly turned into your classic Brown vs. Tatum debate, with Lonzo taking a foolish stance.
“The only two wings is better to him is Paul Pierce and Larry Bird. I was going to say Larry Bird. Larry and Paul. That's him. Boom. So him? Tatum? He's a little better than Tatum.”
Ball went on to say both are “obviously” great players, but reiterated his belief that Brown is better and made a strange comment about how Jaylen would do a better job of guarding Bird than Bird would do of guarding Jaylen. But that aside, it just makes no sense for players to keep insisting upon something being true that so clearly isn’t.
Jaylen Brown has never been better than Jayson Tatum
I love Jaylen Brown. He’s one of my favorite Celtics of all time. But he’s not better than Jayson Tatum, and he never has been. There’s almost nothing on the basketball court that Brown is better at. If you want to short Tatum’s future and predict that he’ll fall off after the Achilles injury while Brown reaches another level, okay. That’s a fine prediction to make. But so far, it’s nothing more than that.
Tatum has been a better player on offense and defense. He’s better at shooting, passing, dribbling, playmaking, rebounding, and defense. Not only that, but he carried a much larger load, took more of the opponents’ attention, and still thrived. Brown was a great sidekick for sure, and perhaps overqualified for that role, but there was never any real doubt about who the best player was.
Lonzo seems to have weird grudge against Tatum
I get that after the polarizing trade, this ‘debate’ is raging as much as ever right now, but there’s really just not much to argue. Before the injury, Tatum had made four straight first-team All-NBA appearances. Brown has zero in his career.
So for someone to make this claim, it almost feels like the argument has to be personal, and with Ball, it’s not hard to see why. Lonzo was famously selected second overall in the 2017 draft by the Lakers, one pick ahead of Tatum. Boston traded down from one to three, banking on the Sixers taking Markelle Fultz and the Lakers taking Ball. That’s exactly what happened. The Celtics drafted Tatum third. And the rest is history.
And apparently, Ball is still salty about how things worked out and how Lakers fans are resentful that the team didn't draft JT and seemingly didn't even consider him. They were locked in on Lonzo, and that turned out to be a major regret. It’s not really Lonzo’s fault. And if not for injuries, he looked to be headed for a very solid career. But the Lakers made a huge mistake in taking him over Tatum, and for whatever reason, he still seems to hold a grudge.
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