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The narrative that Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown aren’t capable of playing together has been a discussion point among Boston Celtics fans for numerous years at this point.
Since the 2020-21 NBA season, when the Celtics fell to an Eastern Conference Finals defeat at the hands of the Miami Heat, questions had been raised about the star duo’s longevity on the same team. However since the start of 2022, Tatum and Brown have figured out how to co-exist on the same team, and now, they will be leading the Celtics into the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors.
When speaking to the media on June 1, Tatum reiterated his belief that he and Brown can continue to be a fearsome pairing on a contending team, and that they’re only going to get better as they approach their primes.
“I honestly believe just two young, extremely competitive guys that just really want to win at all costs. So I think, obviously, that made us closer in the sense of we just wanted to figure it out. Not necessarily prove people wrong, but just prove that we can win and put ourselves in a position to do that.
And it was tough, right. At certain times, when we were three games under .500 and the 11-seed, I’m sure not many people thought we would have gotten to this point. But there was always a sense of belief between us and the group that we were capable of figuring it out,” Tatum said.
Both Tatum and Brown have been exceptional throughout the post-season, and have proven their ability to lead the Celtics against the best talent the NBA has to offer.
JJ Redick Believes Tatum and Brown ‘Figured it Out’
The growth of Boston’s star duo hasn’t gone unnoticed by the outside world and has begun to make people sit up and take notice – even those who never truly believed in their potential together.
Former NBA sharpshooter JJ Redick recently discussed how Tatum and Brown figuring out how to work together is what’s responsible for the team’s mid-season turnaround, and is why they’re currently contending for a championship.
“I think, to me, the biggest thing that has happened this year, and it didn’t happen the first two months, it didn’t happen until January. They figured out that Tatum is the alpha, he’s the Batman, and Jaylen Brown is the Robin. And for a time, it felt like those guys couldn’t quite grasp that. There was a little bit of the young player ‘I want to be the guy, you want to be the guy,’ and they’re friends, obviously. Tatum talked about it on this podcast, he had conversations with Jaylen, they didn’t want to split up…I think figuring that out was huge,” Redick said on a recent episode of The Old Man and the Three.
The idea of having a Batman and Robin style partnership has always been the favored method between NBA stars, but figuring out who gets to take the lead role takes time, and it would seem that Tatum has earned his position as the main protagonist.
Jaylen Brown Gives His Opinion
Tatum has always been the more vocal of Boston’s pairing when it comes to discussing their ability to play together, but Brown has also had moments where he’s discussed the rumors that continued to swirl until this year’s trade deadline.
Speaking to the media on June 1, Brown moved to put the discussion about him and Tatum to bed, noting that this isn’t the first time the pairing has embarked on a deep playoff run together, but noted how the Celtics fanbase is not known for its patience or acceptance of excuses.
“Early on in the season, I was injured. I missed about 15 games. You know, the narrative isn’t going to say that. They are just going to say that you guys lost. Doesn’t matter what the excuse is. We’ve got a first-year head coach. We were trying to figure it out. We play in a city that has no patience for any excuses, so we didn’t make any.
But as things started to come together, we got healthier. We made a couple of moves in the front office that was vital for us, and things started to fall in line. I think that’s what, if you ask me, that’s what I believe. But you ask somebody else, they might say something different,” Brown said.
The Celtics and their star duo have an opportunity to become the first Celtics team since 2008 to lift a championship banner, and they will take their first steps toward that goal on June 2, when they face the Warriors in the opening game of the NBA Finals.
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