Jayson Tatum ‘LOOKED UNCOMFORTABLE’ answering Jaylen Brown Team USA question | First Take

Jayson Tatum ‘LOOKED UNCOMFORTABLE’ answering Jaylen Brown Team USA question | First Take

want to start in the NBA here though kawhai Leonard tried his best to return to form in playing his first Olympics but the injury that made him Miss 12 of the Clippers final 14 games was too hard to overcome and Team USA brought in Celtics guard Derek white which led to many questioning why he was picked instead of his teammate in most recent Finals MVP Jaylen Brown a little shady folks guess who’s in the middle of it Jason Tatum paging you sir uh no to not having jayen here uh yeah I mean there so many guys that could you know take that last spot or whatever um so yeah it is Jason rocking the summer cut I see you uh Courtney any issue with Tatum’s comments it’s tough to handle look how uncomfortable he looked he’s like you know rubbing his hair you could tell in that moment he wanted nothing to do with that question and unfortunately once again he finds himself in the middle of a perceived controversy why isn’t he defending his teammate how come he didn’t say that Jaylen Brown should have been one of the 12 best players on Team USA to replace kawh Leonard I hate that he’s stuck between a rock and a hard place every single time the issue or question anything regarding Jaylen Brown comes up because remember the teammate that kawh Leonard was replaced with is Derek white who was on the Boston Celtics so if Jason Tatum goes the route of man Jaylen Brown should have been on this team over Derek white then that’s an even bigger issue but the body language the way that he kind of deflected off of that question and said well there’s you know plenty of other guys who could could have taken that final spot I know that we all want more from Jason Tatum in those moments all we needed to hear him say was it’s unfortunate for JB that’s my guy that’s my teammate I would have loved to have seen him here but it’s not my decision it’s not the Boston Celtics decision at the end of the day this is Team USA it’s completely out of his control but now that sound bite that clip right there is going viral because it looked like he wanted nothing to do with that question instead of just deferring to say yeah I hate it for my teammate who very clearly took to Twitter expressing disappointment here in wanting to compete for his country and go try to win a gold with Team USA but coach he’s kind of between the amateur therapist in training that is my my the dude’s in a nowin situation he’s think about the context he probably just finished practice he’s walking off the off the court finished the shower trying to get to the bus trying to get back to the hotel and he’s thrown this this question you know what and if you look at what he says at the end of the interview he says yeah it is so you know we can analyze it any way we want there’s no right answer what did you want him to say all right you just told me what you wanted him to say right a lot of ways if you say what you just said you kind of in a lot of ways you’re dissing dissing Derek white so you know he’s got two teammates one of them made it one of them didn’t make it obviously Brown is disappointed so he’s you put a player in a situation where you’re asking him a question that he’s uncomfortable with because he doesn’t know the right answer I think we’re trying to Psycho analyze oh does he have a relationship with jayen brown maybe he’s jealous of jayen brown got the MVP there are a lot of things that go on a lot of has to do with time and and and you know this you guys all know this cuz some of you ask questions and obviously some of you answer questions but it’s all when you’ve asked a question you you control your controllables this isn’t all about him this is all about about USA basketball but like to look at this and to question at the end of the interview he said yes it is that’s the end of the conversation he said yeah it yes it is so you know early in the question maybe he was a little shocked that they asked that I have no idea but like to to to kind of try to analyze his body language and how he said it how uncomfortable he was you’re not in that situation if you’re not in that situation I think unless we’re we’ve got a doctorate in nonbody uh non-verbal communication let’s leave that alone and just say you know the guy was asked the tough question there’s no right answer Courtney I agree what you said would have been perfect life’s not perfect just the way it is I would say this looking at Jason Tatum he he’s a rock in a hard place because you have Jaylen Brown who’s been your teammate uh you got drafted in 2017 Jaylen Brown was drafted in 2016 we’re talking about two guys that went through those hardships together with the Boston Celtics think about how we talked about the Boston Celtics before they were able to win this NBA championship this past season those two guys were uh or had went through all that those tough times together there were so many people previous to them winning that Championship saying that you know you might have to split up this duo we don’t know if it could work well those guys were able to make work and it’s like I said yesterday coach it’s it’s unfortunate that Jaylen Brown could not be on the Team USA basketball team for the Olympics but also I I don’t really know what we want from Jason Tatum in that situation because Derek white was an intrical piece of them winning the NBA championship and you don’t want to slight a player that you you know go through training camp with you you you train with you practice hard with you can’t win it’s like choosing between parents you can’t win I just want to let me ask I’m sorry ask a question have you ever played a game or finished a practice walking off off from the practice field or getting out of the shower trying to get back and and get back to the hotel and someone jumps you and asks you a question and have you ever misspoke or maybe didn’t have the body language or maybe said something just off the top of your head that you regretted but the last three words that J Jason Tatum said was what he said yeah it is and and that’s when he I think he got himself composed and he realized you know he had to be compassionate and and have empathy for Jaylen Brown’s situation but have you ever been in that situation of course I have I mean I can’t sit up here and say that I’ve I’ve done it a numerous of times but there have been times where you know you’re In the Heat of the Moment and you may say something or your body language might not be right that’s human nature right we we got to stop you know pretending that guys are robots the professional athletes are human beings just like everyone else they put their pants on just like everyone else guys make mistakes and for Jason Tatum I just don’t feel like there’s a win-win situation it’s unfortunate though because I view the Boston Celtics and we had Steph Curry you know say recently that there there would not be another Dynasty in the NBA when I look at the Boston Celtics and Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown Derek white Drew holiday being sold up and you have porzingis I believe that they could be the next team to create that dynasty so I just hate that these little things are coming up at at these moments after just winning the NBA championship and then now you got to go defend that championship in 202 2025 then obviously he hasn’t given uh received the marketing opportunities some other players and stars in the league have and now this is just seems like another thing for Jaylen Brown and when Jason when he was snub from that all NBA team back the night that he dropped 40 points on the Indiana Pacers it was Jason Tatum who came out to his defense and said yeah we all felt that he should have been on one of those teams you can’t tell me that Jason Tatum didn’t know that this question was coming this was asked yesterday so a day after the move was made and very quickly Kawhi Leonard says I’m out I’m not I can’t do Team USA anymore they replaced him with Derek white real real quick that was not something that took them a long time so very clearly he knew behind the scenes that this was happening you cannot tell me he wasn’t prepared for that the way that you squash any of these narratives of oh do they like each other do they not like each other we had Joe Missoula before the NBA Finals talking about the fact that their relationship is their relationship and trying to push this aside the way you make sure that there aren’t those same sort of questions is by showing a little bit more empathy for the situation and showing that yeah I understand it my teammate’s heartbroken right now you can tell by the way that he answered the all NBA team question when he was like paraphrasing here he’s like I couldn’t I don’t care we’re a couple games away from the NBA Finals to him saying Nike this is what we’re doing and clearly showing disdain for the process of Team USA of not being on that team he knows his guy’s feelings are hurt right now social Med yeah but but coach hold on Coach coach coach couldn’t it just be as simple as saying I wish all my teammates were here and like leave it at that like next question go bill bich but here’s what I want to know obviously Champions we’re talking about they could be a potential Brewing Dynasty do you think this could create dissension in the locker room when we talk about Jaylen Brown not getting the shine that he deserves over and over again I think front office of the of Boston Celtics is as good as any in the NBA and I think Brad Stevens is a great communicator and I think he’ll bring everyone together probably for a training camp or probably after the Olympics and he’ll sit down and and they’ll hash it out no because you know that’s the thing everyone wants to create this controversy between Tatum and brown Tatum and brown they can’t play together they got to trade one of those guys there’s always some type of narrative but you know what they dispelled all those things because if you saw how they played and how they trusted each other well you know neither one of those guys can make play for each other they don’t trust no they did they did to the point where even without porzingis they won an NBA championship so like all the narratives are great talk radio all the narratives are great for morning television but the reality is first take but the reality is those D guys are the NBA champions so we can talk all we want to we’re blue in the face obviously they they are on the same page enough to the point where they won not not only won an NBA championship they dominated the NBA this past season they dominated the NBA from the beginning to the end and the last thing about the Joe missou they their relationships their relationships that’s right Courtney that’s what it is in locker room and Harry you know that guys have relationship so why should Joe Missoula talk to the relationship that jayen Brown and Jason Tatum have that’s not his point they’re on a team they’re working together you watch them play together I mean like again Joe Missoula he he he’s in a no win situation he says their relationships a relationship he’s not Dr Phil either so like who cares what he said I mean what he said was truth if if your coach in the NFL Harry would would ask you know hey what’s uh Harry’s relationship with player x what do you think the coach would say either oh those guys are great great or would say hey those two guys are good teammates I what are you going to what what what is the right answer to that let me ask cordney if if I asked you hey what’s the relationship between Harry Douglas and Seth G what’s the right answer well I do think that if we’d have to put this into more context though of like if I was the coach of the team I know my players I know my personnel and the right answer is expressing the good teammate part which you had mentioned and being able to like kind of shed a little bit of light on that of answer is the struggle that’s where I struggle with it here where he’s palming his head saying yeah no I haven’t talked to him of course that’s going to draw up more cont why you talk to your all all you have to say tell he’s exhausted the man just won an NBA championship he’s with the Olympic team he has to answer these questions about Jaylen Brown and how he’s feeling the man just want to play he just cover NBA 2K there’s a lot happen he just want to play basketball and and enjoy it have fun he you can tell he doesn’t want to answer these questions I’m sorry these questions come with it he knew that I I understand that but at the end of the day that doesn’t mean he’s not human he’s not he’s still human though he he’s he’s allowed to make mistakes I understand it because I play with two phenomenal white receivers Rody white and Julio Jones oh and you know that was quite the offense days I remember I I had to be mindful of the way I answer things because you know people used to try to you know so is it r y’all going to instead of Julio is it Julio you going to instead of Rody I was like who gives a damn as long as they make the play and we win I don’t give a damn who we go and that’s a great answer I would have loved to have heard something akin to that from Jason Tatum that’s a great answer you should be a head coach for that answer okay all right [Music]

On First Take, Seth Greenberg, Harry Douglas and Courtney Cronin talk through the latest from Team USA.
0:00 Jaylen Brown not selected to replace Kawhi Leonard with Team USA
0:30 Jayson Tatum responds
7:00 The narratives
10:45 What is the “right answer”

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