In a new video series featuring Jason Tatum (Link to YouTube), Celtics The star explains his reaction when he found out about Jaylen Brown trade, Connor Ryan of the Boston Globe relay in history for subscribers only. Tatum says ESPN’s Shams Charania told him personally about the deal.
“We (were) in Vegas. I just finished playing pickup the first day. Shams is coming.” Tatum said. “He hands me a towel and says, ‘Yo, cover your face with this.’ Do not react. They just exchanged him.” I say, “Oh (expletive).” I say, “Where?” He said, “Philly.” – Did you exchange it on the street? So I was just as caught off guard as the rest of the world.”
However, Brown doesn’t seem to buy Tatum’s version of events, Ryan adds. Below Bleacher Report’s Instagram video of Tatum’s comments, Brown responded with a blue baseball cap emoji (Link to Twitter), which means to lie or exaggerate in slang (as opposed to “no hat”, which means that something is true). Ryan suggests that the Browns may believe that Tatum knew in advance that a deal was in the works.
Additionally, Tatum offers some comments in the video about what it was like playing alongside Brown for so long.
“I was personally saying how grateful I am for our relationship and what we’ve been able to achieve over nine years,” Tatum said. “Talk about 2017 to 2025-26. Jason and Jaylen. You can never talk about one of us without the other.”
More on the Celtics:
- Tatum shot just 6 of 23 from the field in Tuesday’s loss to Detroit, but more concerning is that he made just one free throw, writes ESPN’s Tim McMahon. Boston is counting on Tatum to carry the offense, which will be much more difficult if he can’t consistently get to the line. “I wonder if it’s the same guy,” a scout in attendance Tuesday told McMahon. “Does he have the same bursts and explosions? I’m not going to react too much to one game, but if the free throws go down in December, it’s a sign that he’s not back to being himself coming off that Achilles. It’s a telltale sign when guys are shooting jumpers and not getting to the rim like they used to.”
- Pavel George‘s 38-point explosion at the opening of the season was the result of a fruitful summer, trans Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe (subscriber link). The 36-year-old forward said he entered the offseason healthy and was able to work on his game instead of recovering from an injury. “The last two years it’s been really hard to play through injuries and just not be 100 percent,” – said George. “And this summer was huge. I had a great summer, I had an off year. And coming into this year, I knew it was going to be big. It was going to be fun, a great opportunity. And so I was just happy to be able to attack this summer, working on my game more than rehabbing and working on my body. So, it was a great summer for me. And that, I think, was the beauty of the process.”
- Jordan Walsh started in the starting line-up on Tuesday Peyton Pritchard is back in a sixth man role, but the fifth starting spot could be fluid throughout the season, according to MassLive’s Suichi Terada (subscription required). coach Joe Mazzula said before the game that all of his lineup combinations are important and he’s not putting too much emphasis on who will be in the starting five.
