No one wants to play second fiddle or be forgotten as an afterthought. As great as the Boston Celtics have shown they can be, they may have been wrestling with a pair of alpha egos holding them back in recent years. After all, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, both multi-time All-NBA players, are certainly elite talents.
Did their desire to lead, at times, hold the team back as a whole? It’s a fair question, and one that the Celtics may have set out to answer as part of their stunning decision to trade Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers this offseason.
NBA Insider Sheds Light on Celtics’ Favoritism Toward Jayson Tatum Over Jaylen Brown
According to NBA insider Marc J. Spears, despite winning a championship together, Brown may have simply grown tired of feeling like Tatum had been treated as the “favorite” in Boston, even if they were “cool” with one another.
“If you look at what the Celtics had been doing for the last couple years, they favored Jayson over Jaylen,” Spears said during Thursday’s edition of ESPN’s “NBA Today.”
“Jayson wasn’t asking for this; this is something they just did. … Jayson had some friends that were hired by the team. Jaylen doesn’t. When Jayson was hurt, Jaylen was in the starting five, and they announced him last. As soon as Jayson came back, that changed. Jaylen got the East MVP, he got the MVP of the Finals, and then when it’s time to raise the banner, who addresses the team? It’s Jayson.”
MORE: ‘It’s Weird’ — Jayson Tatum Makes Feelings Clear on Celtics Trading Jaylen Brown to 76ers
Brown may have very well been negatively impacted by how the Celtics favored his longtime co-star. The longer that type of apparent disrespect continues, the more likely it is to fester and eat away at Brown’s psyche. It sounds like that may have taken place here.
“I’m not saying Jayson asked for any of this, but the Celtics made Jayson their favorite child,” Spears added. “You always heard Jaylen in trade rumors. … When the team was first being sold, and you started hearing that they had to get rid of one of the two stars, it was always Jaylen’s name that came up. So, I do feel that in a lot of ways, Jaylen probably felt like Jayson was the favorite.”
“I’m hearing that in a lot of ways Jaylen [Brown] probably felt like Jayson [Tatum] was the favorite.”@MarcJSpears on the Celtics’ decision to part ways with Jaylen Brown 👀 pic.twitter.com/9X6R3CeXdz
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) July 16, 2026
When explained that clearly, it’s not hard to see how Brown may have wanted a bit more of the spotlight for himself, especially considering all he had accomplished in Boston, even when Tatum wasn’t there for on-court support. Ironically, if that was part of the issue, it likely won’t get any better in Philadelphia, where former MVP Joel Embiid steals the show.
Still, if Brown can win another title, this time with the 76ers, he can at least prove he’s capable of thriving without Tatum by his side.
