The Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown discussion is back, but in a far more unique form. You see, NBA debates over who deserves the crown rarely stay confined to the players themselves. When two stars have spent years sharing the spotlight, even their families are drawn into the argument over who stands above the other. That was the case when Justin Tatum and Marselles Brown went head-to-head over their sons, with one making a bold claim that demanded a response.

“I got the greatest two-way player currently, period!” Marselles Brown said on Ultimate Dads Unplugged. “Mr. Tatum better say nothing, or Imma tear his a** up.”

Brown was laughing as he said all this. It was a lighthearted jab. But Justin didn’t match the theatrics. Instead, Tatum’s dad pushed back very calmly.

“I don’t disagree with your opinion,” Justin said. “Everybody got their opinion. But I probably got the top three best player in the whole world.”

The statement immediately shifted the conversation from Brown’s dad’s claim to a much broader debate over where Tatum belongs among the NBA elite.

Marselles quickly seized on one particular word: “Three.” He joked that LaMelo Ball could occupy the second spot. It prompted LaVar Ball to jump in and also defend his son’s standing. What followed became less of a serious ranking exercise and more of a hilarious competition between proud basketball fathers.

But this exchange carries more weight because of the history between their sons. Here’s why.

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown spent nine seasons together in Boston. They grew together from promising young wings into the core of one of the Eastern Conference’s most consistent contenders. They reached the NBA Finals twice and eventually captured banner No. 18 together. It ultimately etched them into Celtics history. As that bond started to appear unbreakable, it ended rather dramatically.

The Celtics abruptly traded Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers, sending away one of their most important pieces. It transformed what they had, a championship winner cum Finals MVP, into a brand-new conference rivalry. But since the trade, how does Brown feel about his former partner and vice versa?

Before that, it is important to understand a bit of context.

Historically, Brown has been on the harsher end of criticism for his outspokenness. But that hasn’t stopped him from speaking up. He has his own Twitch channel, which gives him a direct route to his fans. But the tension dates back further. A little over a year ago, Tatum admitted he regretted not publicly speaking in support of Brown when the times got tough.

“I’ve always told him that maybe I could have done a better job of voicing my feelings in the public eye,” Tatum told SI. “He always knew that I wanted him here… I didn’t know how that could affect somebody because I was never in that situation. I feel like, maybe, I could’ve done a better job of publicly saying, ‘No, we don’t want anybody, we want JB.’ I just was always like, ‘I want to stay out of it.’

A year after Tatum said this, Brown, despite having an MVP-caliber season, was traded from the Celtics for Paul George and draft capital. The reason behind it was financial, primarily. Brown was eligible for a two-year, $140 million extension (according to Shams Charania), and Boston wasn’t the place he was going to get it. The Celtics didn’t find value in locking 70% of their cap in two names.

There was also the part where Brown spent months garnering negative attention after a major fight with Stephen A. Smith. Boston, who already tried to move Brown for Kevin Durant in 2022, appeared to have decided they needed him out at all costs this time.

Weeks after Brown’s trade, Tatum broke his silence at the ESPYs and called it “weird.” He left it there, offering little else. But only a week later, Tatum revealed his views on leadership and what makes a good leader.

“Being a leader doesn’t mean you know it all, right? I don’t know it all,” Tatum said. “I’ll be the first person to say that. Being a leader is being comfortable with raising your hand like, I don’t know. Can you explain that to me? I don’t know X, Y, and Z. I want to learn. Being around somebody that feels like they know it all, I don’t want to be around that person. I don’t want to be the smartest person in the room. I want to learn from somebody else.”

Tatum’s comments on leadership came at a tricky time. That’s because Brown was widely accused on social media of having a ‘know-it-all’ persona…

Brown later acknowledged that he and Tatum had barely spoken since the move. It added another layer to a relationship that had once defined the Celtics. At his introductory press conference, Brown said “not really” when asked if he was in contact with Tatum.

“On my end, it’s nothing but respect,” Brown continued. “Besides, when he plays the Sixers, I hope he does well.”

Their fathers’ playful argument therefore arrives at an interesting moment. The two players are no longer teammates, and their careers now point in separate directions. Yet their families continue to defend their respective legacies with the same intensity that has followed both stars throughout their careers.

Justin’s response also revealed how differently the two fathers approached the debate. Even though this debate definitely has many variables, let’s simply keep the two former teammates side by side now that they’re going to face each other.

Simply statistically, Tatum edges ahead of Brown here with his superior playmaking, rebounding, versatility, and more well-rounded offensive skill set.

From an NBA Top 5 perspective, both of them likely don’t make it. That isn’t because they are bad players. It is simply because of competition. Brown’s previous season, where he averaged 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 5.1 assists mostly in the absence of Tatum, surely raises his stock for now. On the other hand, although Tatum played well, he only appeared in 16 games last season.

With LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, and other experienced names still in the mix, it is difficult for the former Celtics partners to break into the top 5.

But this was never really an objective basketball discussion. It was a group of fathers defending sons who have reached the highest level of the sport.