Two years ago, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown stood shoulder-to-shoulder hoisting a championship banner in Boston. On Tuesday night, following a shock offseason trade that turned the former co-stars into division rivals, their long-awaited reunion looked far closer to a cold war. While a pregame gesture from Tatum briefly gave broadcast cameras the illusion of peace, an outspoken former All-Star refused to buy the act.
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Speaking on Run It Back following Boston’s 123–101 blowout victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday, DeMarcus Cousins zeroed in on the viral sequence just prior to tip-off. Jayson Tatum tapped Brown on the shoulder and chest, despite JB ignoring him throughout pregame warmups. Cousins believes it was a calculated move.
“I feel like Jaylen Brown, with the words that he said, he’s kind of made it clear, like, we’re not cool. There’s nothing to really talk about,” Cousins said. “So, to me, it was a bit performative. It was almost like, let me be the good guy in the spotlight while I can make him look like the bad guy in the spotlight.”
Cousins believes that the shoulder-tap gesture was a calculated move, and critiques that, not Tatum’s authenticity as a person. Jayson Tatum’s 21 points and six rebounds sealed the night for Boston, while Brown’s first-quarter struggles derailed his rhythm. Boston won by 22 points, while Tatum played a key role with 21 points, six rebounds, and four assists.
While Brown may have appeared relaxed and expressionless in the lead-up to the game, his play suggested the opposite. He picked up two personal fouls in the first quarter alone and narrowly avoided a third. Brown looked desperate to have an impact in the game.
However, it had the opposite effect. Due to sitting out long periods of game time, Brown never really got a rhythm. He finished with just 13 points in a little over 25 minutes of playing time.
Tatum remained cool and collected, trying to end the beef as he’s maintained in recent weeks. However, Brown wasn’t able to live up to his “lamb chops and gravy” challenge he leveled at Jayson Tatum almost three weeks ago.
Speaking after the game, Brown argued that he didn’t feel any emotion.
“I didn’t have any emotion. I was locked in. I was ready to go.”
However, the result of the game and his struggle to stay out of foul trouble tell a different story.
When asked about his apparent snub of Tatum, Brown said he wasn’t paying attention. He was solely focused on winning.
“I’m just focused on coming out and doing what’s best for my team. Everything else was just — to be honest, I wasn’t paying attention.”
However, Brown did give Jayson Tatum and the Celtics credit for playing well in the win. He also stated that the Celtics were the better team tonight.
Despite Brown shutting the door on him before the Celtics’ game against the 76ers even happened, Tatum didn’t let their pregame interaction turn into controversy.
When asked about the snub, he kept things civil rather than hanging onto it
“No headlines about anything like that. I was getting ready for the game, getting ready for the jump ball.”
While Jayson Tatum appears willing to keep things cordial, Brown has made it clear that his focus lies elsewhere. And if Cousins’ assessment is anything to go by, the pregame gesture did little to bridge the gap between the former teammates.