Jaylen Brown says there’s no Jayson Tatum beef, ‘but it might be a little lamb chops and some gravy’
Brown’s busy 30th birthday included a Sixers win, 27 points, and some words for Jayson Tatum.
Saturday was Jaylen Brown’s 30th birthday, and what a day it was for the new 76ers forward.
At shootaround, guard Labaron Philon Jr., performing typical rookie duties, sang “Happy Birthday” to Brown in an off-key rendition Brown joked was “absolutely terrible.”
Then after the Sixers’ 127-116 victory over the Bucks, he answered questions about one of the league’s most intriguing bits of reality-show-style drama — the state of his relationship with former Celtics teammate Jayson Tatum. Since the Celtics traded Brown to the Sixers, the two have had a beef — well, actually, Brown prefers a different term.
“There’s no beef,” Brown said. “But it might be a little lamb chops and some gravy.”
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Brown reiterated that phrase multiple times in response to the former championship tandem’s latest back-and-forth, which started when Tatum said the trade took him by surprise. Brown responded to an Instagram clip of Tatum’s comments with a “cap” emoji, internet slang for saying someone is lying. Tatum then said there was no beef and he hoped he and Brown could talk things over. Brown didn’t sound as if he was looking forward to that.
“I didn’t see the full thing, but I saw that he said there’s no beef and I think he’s right,” Brown said. “There’s no beef. Jayson comes from a wonderful family. We’ve accomplished some great things. He’s a hell of a basketball player.
“He got a great [public relations] team. There’s no beef, but it might be a little lamb chops and some gravy. You know what I mean? He should stay ready at all times.”
Brown reiterated the “lamb chops” phrase three different times, as if he knew that was how he was going to respond to this.
When asked if he and Tatum might talk soon, Brown said: “We both got so much stuff in front of us. So, at the end of the day, we both — he’s got to do what he’s got to do for his team. I got to do what I do for my team. Jayson’s a great guy. Like I said, great family, hell of a basketball player, hell of a PR team. There’s no beef, but it be a little lamb chop.”
Between the morning serenade of “Happy Birthday” and setting social media ablaze with his comments, Brown had a game to play. Without him, the Sixers likely don’t improve to 3-0 with LeBron James sitting out to manage sciatica on the front end of a back-to-back.
Brown had 27 points on 9-for-19 shooting, five assists, and was tied for the team high in plus-minus at plus-24. That latter stat was one of the great debates with Brown this offseason after his trade from the Celtics — that he wasn’t as important of a player as it might have seemed because of his on-court, off-court splits. Through three games, he is the team’s leader at plus-19.3 per game.
“I’m not for sure on this, but for me it seems like when he gets going offensively, it also kind of translates to the other end,” coach Nick Nurse said. “Where he’s going and knocking the ball away, playing really sticky defense and physical defense.”
Brown said he was still trying to find his way with this Sixers team, but he has looked comfortable in important moments. He had six straight important points in the fourth quarter of the 29-point comeback win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday. Then on Saturday, he nailed a three to put the Sixers up 120-114 with 1 minute, 39 seconds to play before setting up a dagger three from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope on the next possession to seal the win.
“He’s not a guy who cares what other people think about him,” guard Tyrese Maxey said. “I think his biggest thing is he wants to win. He wants to show he’s a winner, which he is. He’s a competitor.”
Which is perhaps why this offseason has stung the 2024 NBA Finals Most Valuable Player. A competitor would wonder why the Celtics traded him and not Tatum, if the team was boxed into trading a large contract, as it said. And even if he tried to hold in his true thoughts about his former teammate, the competitive juices might cause him to reveal them, even in something like a cap emoji, or an analogy about beef and lamb chops.
“No beef. It should never, ever be that. It’s just basketball,” Brown said. “We’re both blessed. It might be a little lamb chop. We’ll be all right.”
In related news, the Celtics visit Philadelphia on Nov. 10.
Beat reporters Gina Mizell and Chris Hine break down their most intriguing quotes from LeBron James and Tyrese Maxey during the preseason, along with what they most hope to learn about this revamped roster during the first month of the season. Watch here.
Watch the full interview below and subscribe to the Sixers Extra podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
