NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal has raised eyebrows with his recent comments about the Celtics’ star duo of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. O’Neal believes that the Celtics should consider splitting up the talented pair, emphasizing the need for a clear leader and a supporting cast of role players.
“I don’t want five stars on my team. I want a guy that I can go to every night, I want a guy that’s going to lead, and I want three dogs, three others,” O’Neal expressed on The Big Three Podcast, via Ashish Mathur of Yardbarker.com. “I would prefer if they were specialists: one to be a shooter, one to be a rebounder, and one to be a fighter.”
O’Neal further explained his rationale, suggesting that the Celtics could use one of the two players to acquire the missing pieces they need to complement their roster. While he acknowledged Tatum’s status as the number one player, he proposed utilizing Brown in a trade to bring in a player who could fulfill a specific role for the team.
Brown and Tatum have been teammates for six years, and their partnership has yielded several deep playoff runs, including three Eastern Conference Finals appearances and one trip to the NBA Finals. However, O’Neal believes that restructuring the team’s composition could lead to greater success.
This past season Brown averaged 26.6 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 3.5 assists in 35.9 minutes per game, while Tatum posted impressive numbers of 30.1 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 4.6 assists in 36.9 minutes per game.
