Jaylen Brown breaks his silence on relationship with Jayson Tatum

Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum won the 2024 NBA Finals together as teammates on the Boston Celtics. However, the two have officially parted ways, as Brown was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers over the offseason, where he’ll be teaming up with former MVPs Joel Embiid and LeBron James, as well as All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey.

Brown held his introductory press conference for the Sixers on Monday, and with rumors swirling that he and Tatum had a contentious relationship toward the end of their tenure together, Brown addressed things head-on.

“We won a championship together,” Brown said, before acknowledging that it wasn’t smooth sailing all the time. “There are ups and downs in any relationship. On my end, nothing but respect, besides when he plays the Sixers.”

Jaylen Brown when asked if he has talked to Jayson Tatum since being traded to Philadelphia:

“Not really.”pic.twitter.com/BCKp4D5eXh

— Underdog NBA (@UnderdogNBA) August 6, 2026

When asked if he’d spoken with Tatum since being traded, Brown responded, “Not really.”

“Weird”

For his part, Tatum has also spoken about not being teammates with Brown anymore.

“To be honest, weird. It’s weird,” he said. “You play on a team with a guy for nine years. I was fortunate enough to go to the Finals with him twice, and win a championship, and push each other to be the players that we are today.”

As much as Tatum recognizes that the NBA is a business, he said he still forms bonds with his teammates, especially someone he played with for as long as Brown.

One day you find out that they’re no longer on your team anymore,” Tatum said. “We’re all humans. We feel all those emotions.”

Still, he’s appreciative that they were able to get to the top of the mountain together.

“It’s tough, but it just makes you appreciate the moments and time that we had,” Tatum said. “Obviously, it came to an abrupt ending, but it doesn’t mean that it wasn’t super successful.”