After winning their first championship together, Jayson Tatum reflected on what Jaylen Brown went through hearing his name in trade rumors over the years. Tatum acknowledged that he never had to go through that personally as the Boston Celtics were clearly never going to trade him, while Brown's standing was a little less clear.
"It would bother me," Tatum said. "Not talking from a pedestal, but I didn't necessarily know what that felt like. But I could just imagine all the hard work that he put in. I saw it every day. Even the strongest-minded person, that would affect you at some point. So I always felt for him in that regard.
"I think now that maybe I could have been better. I never said too much. I always have stayed out of that."
Brown's future with the Celtics was clarified last offseason when he signed a supermax extension.
"The whole Jayson-Jaylen discussion in the national media is laughable to all of us," Stevens said. "I think Jaylen said it best with his line a few weeks ago where he said, 'I don't have the time to give a f---.'"