On Thursday night, while much of Boston was focused on the New England Patriots and Chicago Bears on Thursday Night Football, Jaylen Brown appeared to take a shot at his former teammate, Jayson Tatum, on social media.
Brown didn’t use any words. Instead, he used a blue hat emoji, which, for those unfamiliar, represents “cap,” a slang term essentially calling Tatum a liar. The response came after Tatum’s recollection of the blockbuster trade that sent Brown to the 76ers for Paul George, two first-round picks and two second-round picks. The deal ended a nine-year run in Boston for “The Jays,” highlighted by five trips to the Eastern Conference Finals, two trips to the NBA Finals and a championship in 2024. No team won more regular-season games (477) or playoff games (77) during their time together.
“[Player development coach God Shammgod Jr.] handed me a towel,” Tatum said. “He was like, ‘Yo, put this over your face. Don’t react. They just traded him.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, s—.’ I’m like, ‘Where?’ He said, ‘Philly.’ I said, ‘You traded him down the street?’ So, I was just as much caught off guard as the rest of the world.”
Brown responded in the comments under a clip of the video on Instagram with the cap emoji.
On Friday night, after a masterful 36-point (14-of-26 FG), nine-rebound, seven-assist and two-steal game that included 25 points in the second half (9-of-15 FG) and four straight makes in the final 3:30 to ice the game and give the Celtics a win over the reigning champion New York Knicks in Boston’s home opener, Tatum had his chance to respond to Brown’s comments.
His answer was raw and candid.
“I understand we’re in the entertainment business. Me personally, I’m not much of an off-the-court entertainer type of guy,” Tatum said. “For me, I don’t have any animosity or beef or ill will towards him. I think the frustrating part is that since he’s not with the Celtics anymore, the narrative or the conversations haven’t been enough about what we accomplished. All the games we won, winning the championship, how we’ve grown together. And it’s turned into this, you know, like a drama type of thing.
“I’ve got two kids. You know what I’m saying? I reached out to him the day he got traded. I called him, I texted him, and I understand people process things differently. So for me, at this point in our lives, we’re too old to be having our relationship discussed X, Y, and Z on the internet. There’s a conversation to be had. We can definitely have that conversation. I welcome that. I’ve always wanted the best for him and wished the best for him. I’ve always publicly said those things. I’ve seen all these things about, like, get your popcorn ready when they play. Like, no, this isn’t no f—ing boxing match. I play basketball. Again, there’s no animosity, there’s no beef. And I just hate the way that the conversation or the narrative around it -- when there’s not enough communication. And I think a conversation would solve or put out a lot of fires. And again, people process and handle things at their own time, and whenever that happens, it’ll happen.”
Jayson Tatum had a lengthy response to Jaylen Brown calling cap on his reaction to Brown being traded.“I don't have any animosity or beef or ill will towards him… We are too old to be having our relationship discussed X, Y, and Z like on the internet. There is a conversation to be had.”
— Justin Turpin (@JustinmTurpin) October 24, 2026
Speaking at his introductory press conference in Philadelphia in early August, when asked if the two had been able to talk since the trade, Brown said, “Not really.”
Tatum believes a conversation between the two, who played together from the ages of 19 and 21 until they were 27 and 29, would go a long way.
“I’m not saying it’s going to be a bad conversation. I just think, especially in sports and in the NBA, I think sometimes there is not enough communication,” Tatum said. “Not to blame y’all, but sometimes the media or outside [noise] can just continue to push or speculate. Rightfully so, that’s y’all job. And like I said, he just turned 30. I’m 28. I got two kids. Like it’s just as adults, just a conversation.”
Given Tatum’s desire to see their accomplishments receive more attention than the drama, is he disappointed that Brown seems to be buying into that narrative, too?
“I’m not like blaming anybody for how they feel, right? Everybody is entitled to their own feelings, and we all go through different things in our lives,” Tatum said. “Just for me, I mean, all of y’all kind of saw us grow up and everything that we accomplished, and I don’t want that to be in the rearview mirror of what’s being talked about when it pertains to us two. It should be celebrated, right? Like how many people played in this league and never went to the Finals? We went twice and won a championship. So it should be more about that. This ain’t no f—ing Shaq and Kobe. There’s no beef. It’s not about that. It should be more praise, and I understand that doesn’t necessarily sell. Drama gets clicks and views, but I’m not like really into — that’s not like my thing.”
Tatum and Brown will see each other for the first time as opponents on November 10 in Philadelphia. Brown will return to TD Garden for the first time as a visitor on January 21. The two will also meet on February 7 in Philadelphia and March 7 in Boston.
