The Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers are set to face off in a high-stakes matchup that has the attention of the NBA world. The Tuesday night game, broadcast on NBC during their Coast to Coast coverage, will be the first time that Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown face off against each other since the July trade.
Houston Rockets guard Marcus Smart, who played alongside both Brown and Tatum in Boston, told The Athletic it’s “tough to see” them at odds, and he vouched for how hard both worked.
“Going to war with those guys, I know the work that they put in, both of them.”
He said he places much of the blame for their rift on the media.
“For them to end how it is, I blame a lot of it on the media. Because when I was there, we were good, we were rocking. When I left, they were still good and rocking. I think they just allowed certain stuff in the media to come in between them, to create that gap.”
Smart argued that outside narratives drove a wedge between the two stars.
Article Continues Below“Everybody put assumptions on the guys. Saying they’re this, saying they’re that, creating a wedge, creating a villain, creating a hero. That [factors into it] a lot.”
He said the situation grew into something it never should have and that it affected their relationship.
“Unfortunately, with that situation, it got turned into something that it should have never got turned into. And I think it affected that relationship because of it.”