Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum’s awkward pregame interaction stole the show in their first meeting since Brown’s stunning trade to the 76ers. Both players have publicly pushed back against suggestions of a serious feud. However, tension seemed to build during their first game against each other amid the ongoing drama. Draymond Green has now shared his perspective, making it clear that he did not appreciate how Brown treated his former teammate.
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Brown avoided Tatum completely in the lead-up to the Celtics’ 123-101 win against the 76ers. One notable moment was when Tatum tapped Brown on the chest and shoulder, only for Brown to ignore him. Green didn’t like how Brown handled it.
“JT tried to dap Jaylen Brown up prior to the tip-off; Jaylen Brown ignored him. I didn’t really love that,” Green said on the Draymond Green Show. “When things like that happen, and you’re willing to speak, that says more about you than it does about the other person.”
He added that Brown not making eye contact with Tatum and keeping his head down impacted his game. Green may have a point, with Brown getting into early foul trouble and finishing the game with just 13 points in a little over 25 minutes.
While Green disagreed with how Brown handled the situation, DeMarcus Cousins thought that Tatum was being fake.
Draymond thinks that Brown should talk to Tatum and figure things out, or he may never break out of this funk.
“When you do that, the thing that you’re upset at is haunting you.”
However, Green added that the Celtics’ winning ways may have masked the tension that was building up between Brown and Tatum. After the trade, and in recent weeks, that tension has started to show up in Brown and Tatum’s interviews.
“We have a saying, and we always talk about winning cures all. When you’re winning, it can cure the nastiest of diseases. When you’re not winning, the things that winning has cured, aka covered up, they become bigger issues.”
Green believes that after being traded away, Brown has allowed his feelings to show, while Tatum has tried to end the beef.
Brown’s original response to whether he and Tatum have a beef went beyond simply denying there was a disagreement.
“I saw that he said, ‘It’s no beef.’ And I think he’s right, there’s no beef. Jayson comes from a wonderful family, we’ve accomplished some great things, he’s a hell of a basketball player, and he’s got a great PR team. It’s no beef, but it might be little lamb chops and some gravy, you know what I mean? He should stay ready at all times.”
It was the final part of that response that particularly caught Green’s attention. He questioned what Brown meant by telling Tatum to stay ready, wondering whether the comment was about their next meeting on the basketball court or something beyond the game.
“When I saw that, I said, ‘Wow, that’s interesting.’ Because what does stay ready at all times mean? Like, what does that mean? Like, when we play against you, I’m going at your neck. When I see you in the streets, ‘what’s up?’ Like, what does that mean? I don’t know what that means,” Green said.
He then explained how he interpreted Brown’s lamb chops reference.
“But the little lamb chops and gravy comment, that’s like, ‘Listen, man, it ain’t really no full-out beef. I hear what y’all are saying. But I don’t really like him.'”
Green also made it clear that he did not intend to involve himself directly in the former teammates’ relationship. However, he connected the latest exchange to the years of speculation surrounding whether Brown and Tatum were truly on the same page during their time in Boston.
“When I look at this situation, you know, and I’m never going to try to get in between someone else’s two men’s beef or whatever they got going on. But when I look at this situation, to me, what this feels like is, for years, you heard people say, ‘oh man, JT and JB not on the same page,’ blah, zay, blah.”
Brown and Tatum spent nine seasons together in Boston, reached five Eastern Conference Finals and appeared in two NBA Finals, winning the 2024 championship. Despite those accomplishments, questions about their partnership remained a recurring subject throughout their time as teammates.
Their separation through Brown’s trade to Philadelphia has brought those questions back into the spotlight. Tatum has maintained that he has no animosity toward Brown, while Brown has also denied that there is a feud.
Green, however, believes the way Brown has spoken about his former teammate suggests that their relationship may be more complicated than either player’s public denial indicates.