The thought from NBA pundits that Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown couldn’t thrive alongside one another wasn’t far from Tatum’s mind following the final buzzer of Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals on Sunday night.
As Tatum and Brown shared a celebratory embrace on the court during the postgame ceremony, Tatum reminded Brown of what others had previously thought of the two being each other’s running mate.
“They said we couldn’t play together,” Tatum said, per ESPN.
It really wasn’t that long ago that some believed it was time for the Boston Celtics to break up Tatum and Brown. Even ex-Celtic Kendrick Perkins thought that the two young stars couldn’t co-exist on the court together in Boston, as the Celtics floundered midway through this season.
That idea, that the Celtics would be better off splitting up Tatum and Brown, certainly hasn’t aged well, though, after the duo led Boston to the Eastern Conference title by taking down the Miami Heat on the road in a winner-take-all Game 7.
Tatum, who received the Larry Bird Trophy given to the Eastern Conference finals’ MVP, and Brown weren’t impervious to the outside chatter that the two couldn’t lift the Celtics to a championship level.
It ended up becoming a source of motivation, and now with them at the forefront of Boston’s first NBA Finals appearance since 2010, they have finally proved those naysayers and doubters wrong.
“I think all of those things have helped. From saying that we need to split the group up, get rid of somebody or me and JB can’t play together, that fueled us to figure it out and not run from it,” Tatum said, per NBC Sports Boston. “We obviously are going to be here for a while and that we trust in each other and that we had to be better. I think instead of separating, we became closer and I think it has shown throughout the season.”
