Celtics’ Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum Don’t Fall For Mavs’ Gamesmanship

It didn’t take long for the Celtics to shut down any and all attempts at gamesmanship by the Mavericks.

Dallas head coach Jason Kidd decided to ruffle some feathers Saturday, telling reporters he believed Jaylen Brown to be the best player in Boston — intentionally leaving Jayson Tatum’s name out of the equation. It was a clear attempt to get a rise out of the C’s, but it took all of an hour for them to squash things where they stood.

Tatum and Brown have been here before, and have no interest in feeding into the madness.

“I don’t have no reaction,” Brown said, per league-provided video. “It’s a team game and we’re trying to focus on that. Everybody has their own opinions.”

Tatum might have felt differently, considering the comment seemed to be aimed more toward him than the guy it was actually about. He took a similar approach in brushing it off, though.

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“No reaction,” Tatum echoed. “This is a team sport. We all understand that, and we wouldn’t be here if we didn’t have JB on our team. You could say that about a lot of guys, because we’ve all played a part of where we’re at. We understand that people try to drive a wedge between us. It’s a smart thing to do, or try to do… It’s not our first rodeo.”

The Celtics have been dealing with the Tatum-Brown argument for nearly a decade, and it’s likely not going to stop any time soon. It’s something the duo seems to be at peace with, especially considering how close they are to capturing Banner 18.

“We’ve had conversations about it before, and in all reality, we’ve had to deal with it for a very long time,” Tatum said. “It’s part of us maturing as men… We’re not the first duo to go through the process and won’t be the last.”