Celtics star Jayson Tatum on Thursday spoke directly about Jaylen Brown in an interview for the first time since his longtime former teammate was traded to Philadelphia in July, writes Mike Prada of The Athletic.
Appearing on The Dan Patrick Show (Twitter video link), Tatum was asked about the biggest misconception the public has about about his relationship with Brown. The 28-year-old forward noted there has been “so many different opinions and speculation” about their time as teammates, but Tatum had nothing but praise for Brown.
“For me, I love that guy,” Tatum said. “What we were able to accomplish together in nine years — we went to the conference finals five times, we went to the championship twice, we won a championship, we’ve shared All-Star games together — you can’t talk about him without talking about me, and vice versa.
“… Unfortunately, the business of basketball is always going to play a part,” Tatum added. “Nobody has ever played together forever. But it’s not a thing to be sad or upset about. It’s a thing to celebrate what we were able to do.
“He’s a tremendous person and player. I got nothing but respect and wish him the best.”
Here’s more from Boston:
Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens spoke to Frank Isola and Brian Scalabrine on SiriusXM NBA Radio’s The Starting Lineup show on Friday. Topics included the decision to trade Brown for Paul George and draft assets (Twitter video link), if Tatum is fully healthy ahead of training camp, and what Stevens thinks of the team entering 2026/27 (Twitter links via Bobby Manning of CLNS Media). Regarding Tatum, Stevens reportedly said: “It sure looks like (he’s healthy). We’ve been lucky. A lot of our guys have been in the gym … he’s probably around as much as anyone … he’s been setting a great example for everybody and he looks really good.”
New Celtics center Mitchell Robinson wasn’t present at Tuesday’s introductory press conference for undisclosed personal reasons. The team deemed it an excused absence. According to Eric Nehm of The AthleticRobinson clarified in an Instagram video on Wednesday that he missed Tuesday’s presser because his younger brother was hit by a car that morning.
At that same presser, veteran guard Mike Conley talked about why he was drawn to the Celtics in free agency and what he’ll bring to the team this season, per Adam Himmselsbach of The Boston Globe (subscriber link). “Leadership is one thing I know I can bring, and the urgency that even myself and Paul have to bring to this team as two guys that haven’t had a chance to win a championship yet,” Conley said. “So it’s that sense of urgency that maybe reignites that for the guys who have already won it to kind of continue to push them every day, and continue to show them how we want to win, at practices, and try to translate that to games.”
What can Conley provide to the Celtics as he enters his 20th NBA season? Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston spoke to his colleagues to learn their answers to that question, with the most common response being leadership.