
Jaylen Brown's days with the Boston Celtics are officially over.
The former Finals MVP has packed his bags and left for the City of Brotherly Love to play for the Philadelphia 76ers in a head-scratching blockbuster deal.
Given the somewhat lackluster return the Celtics got for him, it didn't take long before fans and analysts speculated there was more to it. Even Brown himself questioned the team's motives on his Twitch account.
According to ClutchPoints insider Brett Siegel, that speculation isn't that far off. In fact, Jayson Tatum's camp wasn't too happy with Brown's demeanor and comments from this season.
"These rival team sources who spoke with ClutchPoints even went as far as to say members of Tatum's camp had expressed externally to others in league circles that they were not happy with Brown's demeanor and his angle of claiming that this was the season he enjoyed the most with the Celtics, especially since Tatum did not play until March," Siegel wrote.
Tatum hasn't addressed the trade on social media, and Brown didn't mention his name when he said only the younger members of the team had reached out to him.
For years, the Celtics duo was seen as a partnership, and they portrayed themselves not only as teammates but also as friends. Perhaps that was truly the case, and somewhere along the way, they drifted apart, or maybe it was all for show.
Regardless, the Celtics — and the fans — have always embraced and anointed Tatum as the face of the franchise, even after Browns' Finals MVP performance and this strong season.
Inevitably, that had to make Brown feel a certain way, and he may have run his mouth a bit too much to compensate.
All things considered, it feels like this duo underachieved with just one championship and two trips to the NBA Finals, even in the era of parity and with their youth.
Now, Celtics fans will be left wondering how long they could've gone together.
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