The Boston Celtics drafted future superstars and franchise pillars third overall in back-to-back years in 2016 and 2017 when drafting Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.

The dynamic duo have led Boston to three Eastern Conference Finals together, finally getting over the hump last season, landing in the NBA Finals for the first time.

Despite both being two of the best at their positions in the NBA and on the same team, Brown and Tatum are two very different people off the court, and that sometimes controls the narrative of their relationship on the court and their friendship off of it.

It’s been this way for years. Tatum has a son and is involved in many endorsements, commercials, and creating his own brand. While Brown is very active in the community, a social and education activist, a business owner, and VP of the NBAPA. They live in different worlds off the court, despite being on the same team and rolling in the same crowd.

Because of all of this, the narrative has always been that since Brown and Tatum are so disconnected, that the Celtics will be unable to win a championship with them being paired together.

When asked about it by Sopan Deb of The New York Times, Brown didn’t really mention their relationship at all, but rather their work ethics on the court are the same, as they both want to do whatever it takes to raise a banner in Boston.

It’s fair to say Brown is tired of having to answer these same questions about his relationship with Tatum, not to mention having to link his career to him as well, which you can tell is starting to bother Brown now more than it has before.

People might forget this, but Brown was a rookie on the 2016-17 team that went to the Eastern Conference Finals and lost in five games to the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was also on the team for the Celtics run of four Eastern Conference Finals appearances in six years. Tatum was not.

It wasn’t until this interview that I questioned Brown finishing his career in Boston, being paired with Tatum for the duration of their careers.

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