It is impossible for us to pinpoint when, exactly, the rift formed between former star teammates Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.
Perhaps it was a long time coming, stemming from when the Celtics drafted Tatum a year after Brown and immediately inserted him into the starting lineup while it took Brown until his fourth season to earn a consistent spot. Or it was Brown’s exclusion from the 2020 and 2024 Olympics squads that Tatum was on. It could have been Brown’s constant proclamations that the 2025–26 season that Tatum missed most of was by far the favorite of his career. Maybe the simplest, most obvious possibility is the answer: that Boston trading Brown after his best NBA season to move forward with Tatum as the star of the franchise cemented the former’s view of the latter as a rival rather than a partner.
