Why Jaylen Brown Facing Jayson Tatum for the First Time Is a Big Deal

Jaylen Brown vs. Jayson Tatum first meeting since Brown’s trade to Philadelphia, Digi Mart USA News: We were given a very low-stakes tease of it at the end of the third quarter of the 2023 NBA All-Star Game.

Jaylen Brown will formally take on his old running mate Jayson Tatum on Tuesday, when his Philadelphia 76ers host the Boston Celtics at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m.

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It wasn’t supposed to be like this for Brown and Tatum, especially after they won a title together in 2024. The outside noise that said the two stars couldn’t co-exist looked to be just that: noise.

However, after a devastating Achilles injury Tatum suffered against the New York Knicks in the 2025 postseason that cost him most of last season, Brown stepped into the spotlight, and his ascension could no longer keep him in Tatum’s shadow, even with Tatum returning from injury much earlier than expected.

A Twitch stream that went awry, in which Brown talked about his 2025-26 campaign being the most fun he has ever had in the NBA, was all it took to set in motion his eventual departure.

Following those comments, there were rumors that the Celtics were shopping Brown for Giannis Antetokounmpo, and that Boston was probably looking to get out of his large contract.

The Antetokounmpo deal did not work out for Boston. When Philadelphia came knocking with a package centered on picks and Paul George, Celtics president Brad Stevens could not refuse.

That brings us to Tuesday night, when the trade appears to have worked out for both sides, with the Sixers and Celtics leading the Eastern Conference with 9-2 and 8-2 records, respectively.

Brown said he will approach the game like any other.

“It’s nothing to talk about,” Brown told reporters Sunday. “(Tatum’s) on his side, I’m on my side.

We’re playing basketball. Both of us are trying to win.

So, there’s nothing to talk about. Just check the ball up.”

Perhaps Brown does not see this as a big deal. After all, it is not his return game to Boston, which comes on Jan. 21.

Considering how everything went down this summer, however, there is a good chance that more is at stake than he is letting on.