After nine years together, the Jayson Tatum/Jaylen Brown duo became the norm in Boston. Behind those two, the Celtics dominated the East and forever marked their place in franchise history. Now that their partnership is finally over, Tatum is adapting to his new reality, which is unlike anything he’s experienced before.
In a recent chat with reporters, the star forward once again opened up about the Brown trade and admitted the weirdness in seeing his former co-star on another team. Still, he understands the responsibility of welcoming the new arrivals, and that’s where the majority of his focus has been this offseason.
“If I’m being transparent, it’s weird,” said Tatum. “I’ve been on the Celtics for nine years, and he was my teammate for every single one of those. You understand throughout the course of your career that the NBA is a business and people change teams and change coaches and change front offices, but it doesn’t make it any easier. There’s still a human element to those emotions; the city feels those emotions. But there’s also a side like, we have to welcome our new teammates with open arms and attack the new season. There’s a balance, but it’s weird.”
Drafted 3rd overall in 2017, Jayson Tatum has been the face of the Celtics for years, and this amount of change is unusual for his team. Coming off the 2025-26 campaign, in which he averaged 21.8 points, 10.0 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.2 blocks per game on 41.1% shooting from the field, he was just starting to regain his rhythm after an extended recovery absence. But now, he’s facing his toughest challenge yet: leading the Celtics without his longtime co-star.
Jaylen Brown was drafted only a year before Tatum, and they rose to stardom together, becoming one of the NBA’s best young duos. Despite reports of a rift between the two, they became friends during their run together, which maximized their locker-room chemistry. Year after year, under their lead, the Celtics were regularly competitive and even made a title run in 2024. It was the culmination of years of progress, and nobody thought they would break up just two years later. What’s worse is that Brown became a 76er, the same team that bounced the Celtics out of this year’s playoffs.
All across the city, the reaction was one of shock and sadness, especially over what the Celtics got back for their beloved homegrown star. On paper, they got worse as a team while taking on one of the worst contracts in the league (Paul George for $211.5 million). In the process, they also made their division rivals significantly better, adding a whole new layer to the trade.
For Tatum, it’s only just the beginning of this saga. Roughly four times a year, he will have to face his former teammate (turned rival), and it will make for some intense showdowns. With a long, heated history between them, the stakes will be higher than ever for the teams, and Jayson will be caught in the middle of the drama. Nevertheless, Tatum’s mission is to lead the Celtics into a brand new era. This time, instead of Jaylen Brown (who had visions of overtaking Tatum as the team’s primary option), he’ll have guys like Derrick White, Paul George, and Mitchel Robinson to lean on. Whether that’s enough to make a deep playoff run remains to be seen, but there’s no going back on the trade now.
