Jayson Tatum Opens Up About Relationship With Jaylen Brown
'We had some growing pains'
Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum have spent nearly their entire careers together. The Boston Celtics took Brown with the third overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft and Tatum with the third pick the following year, and they’ve been together ever since.
It’s been a fruitful, if sometimes rocky, relationship between the two superstars, who’ve essentially grown up together and are like brothers. They’ve enjoyed a ton of individual and team success together, making the playoffs every year and winning the NBA Finals in 2024.
That came after years of critics saying Brown and Tatum couldn’t win a title together, that the Celtics needed to move on from one of them. The media often tried to pit them against each other, creating the illusion of a rivalry that didn’t exist.
On Tuesday’s episode of Ryan Clark’s “The Pivot” podcast, Tatum opened up about his relationship with Brown and their success together.
“As you get older, you just start maturing and realizing things. For one, the grass isn’t always greener on the other side,” Tatum said. “Understand that we are both…two guys that love this game, work their butts off and want to win at all costs. Now, we had some growing pains that we had to figure out. What is that gonna look like?”
It took a few years and involved sacrifices for both of them, but it was ultimately worth it when they reached the mountaintop together two years ago with Brown winning NBA Finals MVP. They’re both still in their late 20s, too, so it won’t be surprising if they win another title or two together.
“We’ve been to two finals and won one. Hopefully, we’ve got much more to accomplish together,” Tatum added.
With Tatum sidelined by an Achilles injury this year, Brown has picked up the slack and carried Boston in his absence. It will be interesting to see how Tatum reintegrates when he returns, but that shouldn’t be too hard for them to figure out.
