Jayson Tatum says there is no beef with Jaylen Brown and wants a real conversation after the trade

Jayson Tatum says there is no bad blood between him and former Boston Celtics teammate Jaylen Brown. He wants the two to talk directly instead of through social media.

Tatum spent much of his news conference after Friday night's 107-103 home-opening win over the New York Knicks addressing a stir Brown caused earlier in the week.

Brown commented with a blue cap emoji, slang for calling something a lie, under an Instagram clip of a video from Tatum's YouTube channel. In the video Tatum said he was "just as much caught off guard as the rest of the world" by Brown's trade to the Philadelphia 76ers this summer.

"No beef"

"I don't have any animosity or beef or ill will towards him," Tatum said. "The frustrating part is since he's not on the Celtics anymore, the narrative or conversations haven't been enough about what we accomplished, all the games we won, winning the championship, how we've grown together."

"There's no beef," he added. "It should be more praise."

Tatum said he reached out right away. "I reached out to him the day he was traded. I called, I texted," he said. "At this point in our lives, we're too old to be having our relationship discussed on the internet. If there's a conversation to be had, we can definitely have the conversation."

"I welcome that," Tatum said. "I've always wanted the best for him, wished the best for him."

A decade together

Brown was drafted by Boston in 2016 and Tatum a year later. Together they won the 2024 title over Dallas, reached the 2022 Finals and made the Eastern Conference finals in five of nine seasons. Brown was the 2024 Finals MVP.

Brown helped carry the Celtics to 56 wins and the No. 2 seed last season while Tatum missed most of the year after rupturing his right Achilles. Boston lost its first-round series to Philadelphia. In July the Celtics traded Brown to the 76ers in a deal that brought Paul George to Boston.

The two did not appear to interact during warmups when the teams met in a preseason game in Boston earlier this month. They meet again Nov. 10 in Philadelphia.

Tatum looks like himself again

Tatum had 36 points, nine rebounds and seven assists against the Knicks. It was his best game since he scored 42 against New York in the May 2025 playoffs, the night his Achilles gave out.

He said a simple talk would settle a lot. "Just a conversation. Not a bad one or anything like that," Tatum said.