The Boston Celtics‘ 16-year title drought came to an end with their championship win. But it also supposedly sowed the seeds for a possible rivalry between Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, the two top players on the squad. In the midst of growing anxiety about their relationship, Derrick White recently took up the duty of dispelling the allegations.
On SiriusXM NBA Radio, the 29-year-old openly defended his teammates’ pride. White praised the Celtics players’ abilities as rivals while downplaying the possibility of a split among them. Furthermore, he emphasized their strong relationship by saying,
“Everybody wants to talk about a certain narrative or whatever it might be for a story, but they just wanna win and they are gonna do what they need to do on both sides of the floor to help us win games…They are both incredibly talented. They work so hard and they are really good teammates. They care for one another on and off the court”.
“They care for one another on and off the court.”
Newly minted #Celtics champion @Dwhite921 sitting with dad @RamblinWreck34 tells @BGeltzNBA and @SamMitchellNBA about the relationship between his star teammates Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown pic.twitter.com/YBUqeuWnWK
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) June 23, 2024
Shortly after their victory against the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals, there was the first rift in their friendship. Tatum is the team’s chosen talisman, but Brown’s crucial plays in close calls helped him win the MVP award in the conference finals. This diminished the former’s authority as a leader and cast doubt on the dynamics of the squad.
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown’s importance
When they played the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals, a similar plot was told again. Tatum had offensive struggles for the majority of the series, but the team depended on Brown to save them at pivotal moments. This further undermined the apparent power dynamics on the roster by guaranteeing the latter the title of Finals MVP.
Both have been used against one another ever since. When they played the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals, a similar plot was told again. Tatum had offensive struggles for the majority of the series, but the team depended on Brown to save them at pivotal moments. This further undermined the apparent power dynamics on the roster by guaranteeing the latter the title of Finals MVP.
Both have been used against one another ever since. In fact, a few sports commentators added fuel to the flames by selecting Brown as the team’s better leader than Tatum.
But as White noted, these external distractions haven’t been able to erode the superstars’ relationship. They encouraged one another during the festivities, highlighting their mentality of putting the team’s success ahead of their own.
