Jaylen Brown appears to brush off Jayson Tatum before Celtics-Sixers reunion

Jaylen Brown said to “just check the ball up.” He certainly didn’t appear interested in much small talk.

Before Tuesday’s Celtics-Sixers matchup in Philadelphia, Jayson Tatum approached his former teammate and tapped him. Brown continued spinning the basketball on his finger without visibly acknowledging Tatum in a clip shared by MrBuckBuck on X⁠.

LeBron James, meanwhile, greeted Tatum with a big hug. So at least somebody supplied the warm reunion.

This was Brown and Tatum’s first game against each other as opponents after a partnership that produced the Celtics’ 2024 championship. Brown’s July trade to Philadelphia made this a date worth circling, and the pregame moment gave everyone something else to discuss.

Earlier Tuesday, Payton Pritchard had offered a fairly uneventful assessment of their relationship.

“At the end of the day, I don’t think there was ever a beef or anything,” Pritchard said, as we covered here⁠. “I think it’s working relationships. Some people are closer than others, but find a way to win and keep going.”

A brief clip doesn’t settle what Brown and Tatum think of each other. It also wasn’t exactly a scene that would quiet the speculation.

Brown had already made his public position clear Sunday.

“He’s on his side, I’m on my side, playing basketball,” Brown said. “Both of us are trying to win, so it’s nothing to talk about. Just check the ball up.”

On that last point, he appears to be following through.

Related: Sixers’ Jaylen Brown on facing Jayson Tatum: ‘Just check the ball up’⁠

(Jon Iaconis contributed to this post)