Jayson Tatum stood in front of reporters Friday night after Boston’s home opener, a 107-103 win over the Knicks in which he scored 36 points, and spent more than two minutes trying to talk a story out of existence.
He is right about almost all of it. He is also not going to win, because he is the only one of the two men involved who is saying anything.
An Emoji Started This
Tatum released the third episode of his YouTube series “Summer of Jayson” on Thursday. In it he described learning that Boston had traded Jaylen Brown while he was playing pickup in Las Vegas. ESPN’s Shams Charania walked over and handed him a towel.
“Yo, put this over your face. Don’t react. They just traded him,” Tatum said Charania told him. He asked where. Told Philadelphia, Tatum said he responded: “You traded him down the street?”
Then came the sentence that set the week on fire: “So, I was just as much caught off guard as the rest of the world.”
Late Thursday night, Brown found a Bleacher Report Instagram post of those comments and left a single blue cap emoji in the replies. No text. No elaboration. He has not said a word about it since, including after he scored 27 points Saturday to lead Philadelphia past Milwaukee 127-116 on his 30th birthday.
One emoji, universally understood to mean the speaker is lying, aimed at a teammate of nine seasons.
What Tatum Actually Said
“I don’t have any animosity or beef or ill will towards him,” Tatum said. “This ain’t no [expletive] Shaq and Kobe, there’s no beef.”
He said he tried. “I reached out to him the day he got traded. I called him, I texted him,” Tatum said. “And I understand, people process things differently.”
Then came the part that lands hardest: “At this point in our lives, we too old to be having our relationship discussed X, Y and Z, like on the internet.”
On the idea that their first meeting is now a grudge match, he was blunt. “It’s not a [expletive] boxing match,” Tatum said. “I play basketball.”
His read on the fix was simple. “I think conversation would solve or put out a lot of fires.”
The Schedule Will Not Cooperate
Boston agreed to send Brown to Philadelphia on July 1 and the deal became official July 6. The Celtics got Paul George, a 2028 first-round pick, an unprotected 2031 Philadelphia first and two second-round picks for a player who had just averaged 28.7 points a game and won Finals MVP in 2024.
The two have not shared a floor since. Brown sat out the preseason game in Boston. Tatum sat out the one in Philadelphia. Their first real meeting is Nov. 10 in Philadelphia, which gives this more than two weeks to grow.
The early results are not helping Tatum’s argument that the subject should be what they built together. Philadelphia is 3-0 and already owns a franchise-record 29-point comeback. Boston is 1-1, and Paul George is averaging 26.5 points through two games to Tatum’s 24.5.
Blake Griffin Found the Right Words
Griffin, who played with both men in Boston, went on the NBA on Prime postgame show and refused to pick a side.
“I think as far as where things stand, I just feel a little bit disappointed,” he said. “The narrative, the conversation should be that these two guys were All-NBA. They were in the playoffs every year, leading a franchise, winning a championship.”
Then he said the thing that should end the argument: “They were both 19 when they got drafted. So, I don’t know. Really disappointing.”
Nine years together and a championship, and it ends with a hat emoji. Tatum wants the conversation to be about the banner. Until Brown says something, anything, the conversation stays about the emoji.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
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