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Jaylen Brown on Jayson Tatum before his first regular-season game against the Celtics: ‘It’s nothing to talk about. Check the ball up’
Jaylen Brown says he has not spoken to Jayson Tatum and has no plans to before the 76ers host the Celtics on Tuesday. Tatum says it is just Celtics against Sixers, and Paul George returns to Philadelphia too.
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Jaylen Brown has not spoken to Jayson Tatum since media day, and he does not plan to before the Philadelphia 76ers host the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night. Asked after Sunday’s 127-121 win in Chicago whether the two had talked since then, Brown said: “Nope.”
Asked whether he would speak with Tatum before the game, he said: “It’s nothing to talk about. I mean, he’s on his side, I’m on my side. Playing basketball, both of us are trying to win. So it’s nothing to talk about. Check the ball up.”
Tuesday is Brown’s first regular-season game against the team he played his first 10 seasons for. Boston traded him to Philadelphia in July. The 76ers, 9-2, host the Celtics, 8-2, at 8 p.m. ET (3 a.m. Wednesday Cairo time) in the first game of a national doubleheader on NBC and Peacock.
Brown on Tatum and his return against Boston. Video via 94WIP on X.
‘It’s life, it’s business’
Brown said he still has a soft spot for his old city. “I love Boston. Boston’s a great city,” he said. “Lot of people I developed a relationship with, you know what I mean, but I’m just focused on what’s in front of me right now.”
Asked whether leaving after a decade felt like a breakup, he said: “It’s life, it’s business. Just move on. It’s OK. … It’s emotions. You’ve got to pack up and move your stuff. Your family’s got to pack up and move. But it’s life. It’s happened to numerous amount of people, myself included. So I just look forward to just being able to build with my team over here, trying to make the best of my situation.”
Brown already faced the Celtics in the preseason. Asked if that would make Tuesday easier, he said: “I don’t know. We’ll see how we feel when we get out there. But as of now, I got no emotion towards nothing, so I’m just ready to go.”
The two have been circling each other since October. Tatum released a documentary in which he described being stunned by the trade, Brown answered a clip of it with a cap emoji, and Tatum then said he held no grudge and offered to talk it through. Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla tried to close the subject at the time, saying Boston was “focused on Jayson”.
Tatum: ‘I’m not really able to tell the future’
Tatum was asked about Brown’s comments after Boston’s 117-97 win in Milwaukee on Sunday. He called Tuesday “nothing more than Celtics vs. the Sixers,” and added: “I’m not really able to tell the future. I just know that it’s the Celtics versus the Sixers. Go out there and do my job, try to get another win.”
Both arrive playing well. Brown scored 29 on 11-of-22 shooting in Chicago and is averaging 26.0 points over his last four games, after 19.8 in October. Tatum, who tore his Achilles in the 2025 playoffs, is averaging 27.1 points and 7.8 assists through nine games. He had 21 points, six assists and five threes against the Bucks.
Tatum reacts after his dunk against the Bucks. Video via the NBA on X.
Paul George goes back to Philadelphia, too
Tuesday is also a return for Paul George, who spent two seasons with the 76ers before joining Boston. He scored 27 in Milwaukee, 16 of them in the second quarter, with five threes.
“It’ll be fun,” George said. “Great relationships there. It’ll be great to see those guys and compete against them, finally. … Philly was a special place for me. Obviously, it was a tough tenure, my two years there, but it’ll be special to be in the building.”
Mazzulla kept his preview short. “It’ll be fun,” he said. “It’ll be a good atmosphere.”
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