The Boston Celtics broke up the Jayson Tatum-Jaylen Brown duo during the 2026 NBA offseason by sending the latter player to the Philadelphia 76ers.
It wasn’t the first time that Brown was in trade rumors with the Celtics. It wasn’t a long and drawn-out process. Once it became clear that Brown was on the block in 2026, the Celtics struck a deal to move him. The only shock was where he went.
Jayson Tatum didn’t have much to say about Brown publicly amid trade rumors in 2026. That was the case in past years as well. According to Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix, that’s something that Tatum regrets.
Jayson Tatum Has One Jaylen Brown Regret After 76ers Trade
“He said that to me in 2024 after they won a championship. I was talking to him in depth about the relationship with Brown, and he did say to me that he wished that he had been more publicly vocal about supporting Jaylen during the trade talks over the years,” Mannix said on SI Open Floor.
“Like maybe he supported behind the scenes, and people close to Tatum have insisted that behind the scenes he has told the Celtics over the years that this team was better with Jaylen Brown on it. But publicly, he hasn’t been as vocal. He did tell me he regretted that back in 2024.”
Obviously, that’s a different timeline, but there’s no telling where Brown would be at right now if Tatum took a different approach back then.
The NBA world assumed that Tatum and Brown fell out, and their cryptic comments through the media since the trade went down don’t do much to change anybody’s mind.
Tatum can’t do anything at this point to change the situation. The saga will get talked about until they face each other a few times. The hype around the upcoming Sixers-Celtics battles due to Brown and Tatum will remain strong until the 2026-2027 season concludes for both teams.
