Jayson Tatum on his relationship with Jaylen Brown

Jayson Tatum appeared in Today with Jenna and Chenelle on Wednesday to promote his new children’s book.

The interview also touched on his relationship with Jaylen Brown, who the Celtics traded to the 76ers last week.

Tatum’s appearance comes one day after ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that the personal relationship between Tatum and Brown was “as close to non-existent as possible.”

Tatum was asked for his perspective on how things are going between him and Brown.

“I think, like, I have nothing but love and respect for Jaylen,” Tatum said. “It’s tough, when you’re a professional athlete and everything we do is published and cherry-picked, and it was like that.”

Tatum and Brown played together for nine seasons as members of the Celtics, winning the championship in 2024.

But, in the years leading up to the tournament, Tatum felt like people were trying to drive a wedge between the two stars. The Celtics lost to the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals during Tatum’s rookie season in 2018, and the hype surrounding the team escalated from there.

“There was a period in our career where we hadn’t won a championship yet, but looking back, we were only 23, 21,” Tatum said. “So, the expectations were pretty high and they just had to try to figure out why we hadn’t won yet.”

“They tried to pin us down and say one person shouldn’t be here and so on, but the truth is we had nine wonderful years together. We went to… [NBA] Finals twice. We won the championship. So, I will be forever grateful for those memories and the time we spent together.

Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said Tatum had no input into the Browns trade. Tatum told NBC News He was shocked when he heard the news.

The Celtics traded Brown to Philadelphia for Paul George, two first-round picks, and two second-round picks.

Stevens said having two players put together for 70 percent of the salary cap would have made it difficult to compete for championships under the new rules of the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement.

The Celtics will still have two players making roughly the same amount of money next year in Tatum and George. George also has a player option for next season.

Tatum and Brown’s time together in Boston was very successful and came to an abrupt end last week.

Tatum said, via his Instagram story, that He wishes Brown nothing but the best.

Khari A. Thompson

Sports reporter

Khary Thompson covers professional sports for Boston.com. Before joining the team in 2022, Khary covered college football for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.

Khari A. Thompson

Sports reporter

Khary Thompson covers professional sports for Boston.com. Before joining the team in 2022, Khary covered college football for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.