Jaylen Brown said Saturday night there is no beef with Jayson Tatum, but he kept circling back to Tatum’s PR team and joking that there might be “a little lamb chops and some gravy.” The comments added another public twist to a relationship that has already moved from trade chatter to open back-and-forth.
Brown’s remarks came just a day after Tatum said he wanted to talk things out and was open about where he stood. Brown said he did not see the full comments, but said he thought Tatum was right to say there was no beef. He also said Tatum should stay ready at all times, then repeated that both players have a lot in front of them and need to handle what they have to do for their own teams.
Brown, who is 3-0 as a member of the Sixers, did not stop at diplomacy. He praised Tatum as a great guy and a hell of a basketball player, but kept making the point that Tatum has a great PR team. That is what gave the exchange its edge. On one hand, Brown insisted there is no real problem. On the other, he kept needling the idea that Tatum was managing the message as much as the moment.
The latest comments also sit on top of a specific claim from Tatum: that Brown’s social-media remark made it sound as if Tatum was lying about not knowing about Brown’s trade to the Sixers. Tatum said he had no animosity, beef, or ill will toward Brown, and said he reached out the day Brown was traded with calls and texts. Brown did not directly address that accusation in plain terms, but his answer suggested the dispute is as much about perception as it is about substance.
For now, the next time this story reaches the floor is easy to mark on the calendar. The Celtics will be in Philadelphia on Nov. 10 for the first of four regular-season matchups, and Brown’s return to TD Garden comes Jan. 21. Whether the two talk before then is the part that still hangs in the air. Brown said both have too much in front of them to carry anything extra, but he left just enough ambiguity to keep the conversation alive.
