Trade rumors have a way of dying down once the deal is done. This one has not. Jaylen Brown is a Sixer now, but people still want to know what really happened between him and Jayson Tatum.
Brown himself did not offer much closure this week. He admitted the two have barely spoken since Boston sent him to Philadelphia. That left an opening, and Stephen A Smith walked right through it.
Stephen A. Smith Explains the Tension Behind the Tatum-Brown Partnership
GettyStephen A. Smith Shares His Take on Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum
Smith started with the resume, and it is hard to argue with it. He pointed out that Brown has won more games than anyone in the league since entering it in 2016, regular season and playoffs combined, a total of 523. Add six conference finals, an Eastern Conference MVP, a Conference Finals MVP, and a Finals MVP, and Smith made his stance clear.
From there, Smith shifted to what he believes actually drives the tension, and it was not the two players themselves.
“When I think about Jaylen Brown, I think what people are missing is that I don’t believe there’s any animosity with the two. I think Jaylen Brown highlighted it weeks ago in terms of articulating the difference in their personalities. He’s more of an activist. He’s the kind of guy that’s going to be out in the community and trying to make things happen to provoke change because he’s a very conscientious observer. Jayson Tatum is relatively quiet. Family man who goes about the business of doing his work,” Smith said, via First Take.
That contrast, Smith argued, is where the real friction sits.
“Where I think the resentment comes in, it’s not toward Jayson Tatum. It’s toward a system that doesn’t appreciate what Jaylen Brown brings to the table because of the attributes I just articulated that he has. They don’t want to necessarily deal with him.”
What Brown’s Next Chapter Means for the Sixers
GettyBrown Begins a New Era With the Sixers
Smith has made this argument before, and it has not always gone smoothly. Back in 2024 he cited an anonymous source claiming Brown had a big ego, which sparked a public back and forth between the two that stretched across multiple shows and even a parade t-shirt. This time around, Smith framed his comments as defense rather than criticism.
He argued that Brown deserved a spot on Team USA and should be viewed as a true number one option, someone whose $304 million earning power reflects only part of what he brings to a franchise.
Brown’s own words this week lined up with that read in some ways. He called the Tatum partnership a brotherhood built on a title, even while admitting they have not talked much lately. Whatever tension exists, both sides seem to describe it as complicated rather than hostile.
None of this changes what Brown has to do now, which is show Philadelphia what Boston saw for a decade. The Tatum chapter is closed. The next one starts this fall, and Smith clearly believes it should have started with more credit than Brown ever got.
Sixers’ Jaylen Brown Gets Honest New Assessment on Jayson Tatum Relationship