The rivalry between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Boston Celtics already took a memorable turn during last season's playoffs, but their historic strife got an even more prominent boost this offseason after the latter shipped away their best player from the previous campaign in Jaylen Brown to the former. Many believe that there is some beef between him and Jayson Tatum to spice up the rivalry, but the latter just crushed that contrived narrative.
In a recent appearance in the Dan Patrick Show, Tatum was asked about his relationship with Brown, the new 76ers star, and his response was pretty straightforward, saying that he "loves that guy." Obviously, that is a resounding way to debunk all those rumors that he and his former co-star did not go along well. If anything, this is a twist that could pump the brakes to some degree on the rivalry between Philly and Boston.
Jayson Tatum crushes feud narrative with new 76ers star Jaylen Brown
That plot, which implies that Brown has some sort of enmity against Tatum, has always been overblown and largely imagined. Just recently, Brown himself dealt a major blow to that narrative by pointing to Tatum as the funniest teammate he has been with in his career.
Tatum went at length to dispel the misconceptions surrounding his relationship with Brown, noting that they achieved a lot together in their nearly decade-long partnership in Boston. The Celtics superstar noted that it is impossible to talk about one of them without mentioning the other.
As such, one could argue that if ever the rivalry between the 76ers and the Celtics this season reaches a new level, it will probably not be because there is bad blood between their stars. Both players obviously have a lot of respect for each other and what they have accomplished together, so those feud rumors should die down by now.
If anything, there is no love lost between the two All-Stars. It is admirable that they did not yield to the public, seemingly blackjacking them into hating each other, which is what the media wants to see to generate some artificial hoopla.
Of course, knowing the competitor Jaylen Brown is, there will be no sympathy for his former ball club. After all, he of all people knows just how formidable Jayson Tatum and the Celtics can be, and if he lets up, the Philadelphia 76ers could suffer the consequences in their bid to win the championship this coming season.
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