It may take years for the Jaylen Brown-Jayson Tatum relationship to be repaired, and considering Brown’s reaction to Tatum’s suggestion for a conversation to clear matters, a resolution doesn’t seem plausible.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla has stayed out of the situation, lauding Brown for his contributions to the organization but choosing to move forward with the current roster with Tatum as its centerpiece.
After Tatum and Brown each commented on the Brown trade and their feelings about the other, Mazzulla offered his thoughts on the frayed relationship.
“Those two guys were together for 10 years, and they had great, great moments together,” Mazzulla said before Sunday’s practice. “Nobody is perfect. We all can be better. We all did great things. We all did things we want to be better at. I think it’s more focusing on the greatness those two were able to achieve and the fact that they’re both great people.
“They’re different in how they play the game, different in how they handle things. Just different. It doesn’t mean that it’s good or bad, it’s just different.”
Brown and Tatum reportedly haven’t spoken since Brown’s stunning July 1 trade to the 76ers for Paul George and two first-round picks. Last week, Tatum released a clip of his video series detailing his summer, explaining his shocked reaction to the trade. Brown responded on social media with a cap emoji, signifying that he felt Tatum was being dishonest about his lack of knowledge of the trade.
Mazzulla offered support for Tatum.
“We’re focused on Jayson because he plays for us, he’s with us, he’s our guy,” Mazzulla said. “We’re grateful for what Jaylen did in the past but our focus goes to Jayson, who he is as a player, who he is as a person and you just move on from there but you never forget the gratitude of a former Celtic who left this place in a better place. You can’t forget that but what we focus on now is Jayson.
“Jayson is our best player. Jayson’s our highest character guy. He’s our guy. We’re focused on that and we move forward.”
Brown did not request to be traded and intimated that he’s still confused as to why the Celtics made the deal. Tatum complimented Brown in interviews throughout the summer but after Friday’s win against the Knicks, finally addressed what appears to be tension between the two.
Tatum expressed gratitude for the nine years they spent together as teammates but appeared ready to move forward, saying he was open to a conversation with Brown. When asked about that possibility following Saturday’s 76ers’ win over the Bucks, Brown didn’t appear interested, telling reporters “there’s no beef. Jayson comes from a great family. We’ve accomplished some great things. He’s a hell of a basketball player. He’s got a great PR team. There’s no beef. But there may be a little lamb chops and some gravy.”
Mazzulla said he has no issue with the two exchanging words.
“It doesn’t necessarily make you sad,” he said. “That’s just the nature of the space that we’re in. You have a choice to decide what we’re going to focus on. Once a Celtic always a Celtic. Once you’ve left this place better than you found it, you cannot forget that. You have a gratitude and a perspective of that and we focus on the present moment. We can’t let a day go by where we don’t focus on Jayson’s greatness as a player and what he does for this organization and what he does on and off the court. That’s our guy now.
“It doesn’t necessarily make you sad, it forces you to choose what you’re going to focus on. You have to focus on the attitude and perspective of a great former Celtic and we’re going to choose to focus on the greatness of Jayson and what he’s done for our organization.”
It became apparent during the media session that Mazzulla had reached a breaking point with questions on this topic. He wants to focus on a team that’s coming off a solid victory over the defending champions but has much room for improvement.
“I’m trying to handle this as best I can,” he said. “I feel like I’ve answered it. [Brown’s] a former Celtic. He’s left this place in a better place. We’re grateful. Every Celtic is welcome in this building. It doesn’t matter who it is. We’re focused on the current Celtics. We’re focused on Jayson Tatum. He’s our best player. He’s our leader. He’s an unbelievable superstar. He’s a high-character guy. We have others that we’re focused on. I’m not trying to be disrespectful. I feel like I’ve answered it as best I could over the course of four months.
“This is not about that anymore.”
Gary Washburn is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at gary.washburn@globe.com. Follow him @GwashburnGlobe.