Jayson Tatum: Jason Kidd ‘Smart’ to ‘Drive a Wedge Between’ Celtics with Brown Praise

Mike Chiari@@mikechiariFeatured Columnist IVJune 8, 2024

Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images

Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum suggested Saturday that Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd was trying to stir up controversy in the Celtics locker room with comments he made while speaking to the media.

When asked about the challenges of facing Celtics All-Star guard Jaylen Brown in the NBA Finals, Kidd called him the Celtics’ best player, which could have been perceived as a slight against Tatum:

NBA TV @NBATV”Well, Jaylen [Brown] is their best player.. He plays both both sides at a high rate.”

-HC Jason Kidd on what makes going up against Jaylen Brown so challenging pic.twitter.com/nEySEph3bf

Tatum was asked to comment on Kidd’s take, and per Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports, Tatum expressed his belief that it was a tactical move on Kidd’s part, saying: “We wouldn’t be here without JB. … People try to drive a wedge in between us. It’s a smart thing to try to do. We’ve been in this position for years, saying one of us should be traded.”

The Celtics took Tatum with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft, and within a couple of years, he was widely heralded as Boston’s best player.

Tatum has been named an All-Star in each of the past five seasons, and he has finished sixth or better in the NBA MVP voting in each of the past three campaigns.

This season, Tatum once again led the Celtics in scoring with 26.9 points per game, and he is a big reason why they had the league’s best record at 64-18.

Brown’s role in the Celtics becoming an elite team can’t be discounted either, as he has been named an All-Star in three of the past four seasons and also put up big numbers this season with 23.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.2 steals per game.

During the Celtics’ run to the NBA Finals this season, Tatum and Brown have put up very similar numbers.

Tatum is averaging 25.3 points, 10.4 rebounds and 5.9 assists, while Brown is putting up 24.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists. Brown did get one up on Tatum by being named Eastern Conference Finals MVP, though.

In Boston’s 107-89 win over Dallas in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, Brown was the team’s leading scorer with 22 points to go along with six rebounds, three steals and two assists, while Tatum had 16 points, 11 boards and five assists.

Brown was also tasked with guarding Mavs superstar Luka Dončić for extending stretches in Game 1, which speaks to the confidence Joe Mazzulla has in his all-around game.

While Dončić scored a game-high 30 points, he shot under 50 percent from the field and only dished out one assist.

An argument can indeed be made that Brown is the Celtics’ best and most complete player, but Tatum clearly has no interest in allowing that discourse to distract the Celtics from their stated goal.