Draymond Green believes the tension between Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown reflects years of unresolved conversations that became more visible after the former Boston Celtics teammates went their separate ways.
Speaking on The Draymond Green Show, the Golden State Warriors forward suggested that feelings and disagreements may have accumulated during their decade together in Boston, with neither player necessarily addressing them at the time.
“When I look at it now, it’s now festering. All of those feelings, you know, one guy could be looking at like, man, I remember when such and such said this. Maybe he was feeling a way,” Green said.
“The other guy could be looking at it like, ‘Oh man, I remember when this came out. Maybe he was feeling.’ And so I think what you’re seeing now is like probably just a culmination of all the years of people saying, ‘Oh man, they don’t get along.’”
Green believes the end of their partnership has removed the need to maintain the appearance that everything was fine between them.
“And all of these things have now reared its ugly head and they’re not teammates anymore. They don’t have to kind of fake like they’re on the same page anymore. And they just move forward,” he added.
The discussion follows a social media exchange involving Tatum and Brown after Brown posted a blue hat emoji on Instagram, apparently challenging Tatum’s account that he was caught off guard by his trade to the Philadelphia 76ers. Tatum had said there was no animosity between the two and that he remained open to a direct conversation.
Brown recently addressed the situation after Philadelphia defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 127-116, insisting that there was no serious feud while joking that some tension might remain.
“It’s no beef, but you know, it might be a little lamb chops and some gravy. You know what I mean? He should stay ready at all times,” Brown said.
Brown also praised Tatum’s family and basketball ability while taking a playful jab at the Celtics star’s public relations team.
“Jayson comes from a wonderful family. We’ve accomplished some great things. He’s a hell of a basketball player. He got a great PR team,” Brown said.
