Jason Tatum continues to try to smooth things over Jaylen Brownbut his ex Celtics teammate doesn’t seem ready to bury the hatchet. After Brown had a negative reaction to Tatum’s view of the trade that sent him to SixersTatum tried to end the argument after Friday night’s game against New York, reports said Jay King of The Athletic.
“To me, it’s like I don’t have any animosity or beef or malice towards him.” Tatum said. “And I think the most frustrating thing is that he’s not with the Celtics anymore, there weren’t enough stories and conversations about what we’ve accomplished, all the games we’ve won, the championships we’ve won, how we’ve grown together. And it’s turned into drama.”
Tatum told reporters that he called and texted Brown on the day of the trade, adding, “At this point in our lives, we’re too old to be discussing our X, Y, and Z relationships online.” he also said “It’s not Shaq and Kobe shit. Like, there’s no beef.”
Asked about those comments after the Sixers game on Saturday, Brown said: “He’s got a great public relations team. There’s no beef … but there might be lamb chops and gravy.” (Link to video on Twitter from ESPN’s Dave McMenamin).
There are more from Philadelphia:
- With another contest coming up on Sunday night, LeBron James sat out his first game since joining the Sixers, for Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer (subscription required). The official reason was lower back and sciatica treatment, but at age 41, James is unlikely to play quarterback this season. Dean Wadewho has been dealing with an ankle problem, made his Sixers debut on Saturday and replaced James in the starting lineup.
- Since James is unavailable, Joel Embiid took on a bigger role in facilitating the offense and had the 11th triple-double of his career, Mitzel adds a separate story. Embiid played 36 minutes tonight, so he will likely miss Sunday’s game, though Coach Nick Nurse said that a decision has not yet been made. Embiid lobbied for action in his postgame session with reporters, according to ESPN’s Chris Ream (Link to Twitter). “I really want to play tomorrow” he said “Can you put some pressure on them?”
- Jabari Walkerwho saw time as a small-ball center, did not return after leaving the game in the third quarter, Rome adds (Link to video on Twitter). The nurse said Walker had a “fixed” left knee, but gave no other details.