Jayson Tatum was asked by a reporter about Jaylen Brown‘s absence from the Team USA squad for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Tatum struggled to give a coherent answer when asked about Brown’s absence, and whether he had spoken to his Celtics teammate amidst the controversy surrounding his snubbing from Team USA.
“Ah, no… I mean there’s so many guys that could, you know, take that last spot or whatever. So, yeah it is.”
Reporter: "Have you talked to JB at all?"
Jayson Tatum: "Ah, no."
JT struggled when asked about Jaylen Brown's exclusion from Team USA 👀
(via @NBCSCeltics)pic.twitter.com/Li6MX6wFal
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) July 11, 2024
Tatum clearly wasn’t expecting to answer any questions about Brown, or his absence from Team USA. It was difficult watching Tatum try to weave his way through those questions, as he didn’t want to say anything that upset Brown, while also showing respect to Team USA and their selection committee.
Brown hasn’t been happy about being snubbed from Team USA. He took some shots at Nike and had a cryptic reaction to his Celtics teammate Derrick White being named to be Kawhi Leonard’s replacement on the roster for the Olympics.
Brown and Tatum are coming off an incredible season, where they helped the Celtics win the 2024 NBA championship. Brown was the star of the show for the Celtics in the playoffs, as he was named the NBA Finals MVP, off the back of his 20.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game showing against the Mavericks.
Tatum actually struggled against the Mavericks. While he averaged 22.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 7.2 assists per game, his shooting numbers reflect how poorly he did. Tatum shot just 38.8% from the field, and 26.3% from the three-point line. Tatum’s numbers might be good, but even he knew that he had underwhelmed in the Finals.
Tatum And Brown’s Relationship Has Been Strong Through All The Struggles
For years, there have been rumors about Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown not getting along and wanting to split up. Recently, Shams Charania and Lou Williams dismissed those rumors, by revealing both publically and privately, that Tatum expressed his desire to continue playing with Brown, especially after all of their championship failures.
“In the 2021-22 season, the media was asking Jayson Tatum if he still wanted to play with Jaylen Brown. ‘Do you still want to be teammates with him?’ And I think that was a point where there was a lot of conversation — can these two guys win, can they get to the Finals, can they win the championship together?”
“And Jayson Tatum said publicly, ‘I want him here, I want to play with him. We know what we’ve done, Conference Finals every year… but even privately, he told people around that organization, ‘I want Jaylen Brown here.'”
Ahead of the NBA Finals, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla spoke about Tatum and Brown’s relationship and blamed several people in the media for trying to drive a wedge between the two. He also praised both players for handling themselves very well around each other.
Tatum and Brown will focus on other matters for now. Tatum will be looking to win his second Olympic gold medal for Team USA, whereas Brown will be relishing his incredible night at the ESPYs, where he created headlines by being spotted with Kysre Gondrezick, and being awarded an ESPY for the best championship performance.
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