“I was just so excited in that moment that we won a championship. I can be 100% honest, there was no animosity, I wasn’t upset.”
Jayson Tatum celebrates winning the 2024 NBA Championship (Kayla Bartkowski/Boston Globe).
While we have yet to see one of the most talented duos in the NBA this season, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown‘s relationship stays strong.
Tatum and Brown were both selected third overall in their respective drafts, with Brown going in 2016 and Tatum in 2017. They have both played their whole careers with the Celtics, and have been able to grow a relationship together.
As they both came into the league at a young age, Tatum believes they both have each other to thank for their success.
“In a way, we both, like, push each other,” Tatum said while on The Morris Code Show on Wednesday. “[Marcus Morris] has seen it. We always was in the gym, always was playing one-on-one. Part of it was like, we just had to grow up.”
Clearly, the two of them feeding off of each other has propelled them both to be successful.
Tatum has been one of the most consistent scorers in the league in recent years, as well as going on to average a career-high in assists last season. While he will be sidelined for at least most of this year with an Achilles injury, Brown has been able to pick up the slack.
He is averaging 29 points per game on nearly 50% shooting this year, helping the Celtics to a 12-9 record. With Tatum out, Brown has taken over first-option responsibilities, and has handled it comfortably.
“We just had to accept like, we need each other,” Tatum continued. “I haven’t had any success without you, and you haven’t had any success without me. We both gotta do this together.”
This comradery is part of the reason Tatum says he had no hard feelings when Brown won Finals MVP in 2024, with the two of them being the main options that year. Even with Tatum leading the team in points, rebounds, and assists in the finals, he says he was just happy to have won his first ring.
“I was just so excited in that moment that we won a championship,” Tatum responded when asked if he felt he deserved the MVP. “I can be 100% honest, there was no animosity, I wasn’t upset.”
Tatum carried on to give a scenario Celtics fans can get excited about, in that he believes his time is coming.
“To be honest, I was just like, ‘oh s***, it’s not my time’,” Tatum stated. “I know I’m going to get a Finals MVP, so that just means I gotta win another championship.”
The Celtics have gotten off to a decent start to the season with Tatum on the sideline, but will hope he recovers in time for the end of the year.
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