The first meeting between Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown as opponents brought plenty of attention before the Boston Celtics faced the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday. However, their awkward pregame exchange was impossible to ignore even after Boston secured a 123-101 victory.
Brown appeared to ignore Tatum when the Celtics star approached him to greet his former teammates. Instead, the 76ers guard spun a basketball on his finger as Tatum walked past him and greeted LeBron James.
NBA analyst Bill Simmons criticized Brown's response, but he also had strong words for NBC's coverage of the moment. The network used a split-screen shot and failed to capture the interaction with a wider camera angle.
“They were in a split screen inexplicably. NBC had one job. They literally had one job during this game, which was to make sure when Tatum approaches LeBron or Brown or Brown approaches Tatum right before the game starts, make sure you have a wide shot and you can capture what happens. They f****d it up,” Simmons said.
Bill Simmons tore into NBC for split-screening during Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown’s pregame interaction
“They were in a split screen inexplicably. NBC had one job. They literally had one job during this game, which was to make sure when Tatum approaches Brown or Brown… pic.twitter.com/3QtsoRimSL
— NBABase (@TheNBABase) November 11, 2026
The longtime Celtics supporter also felt Brown could have handled the situation differently.
Article Continues Below“The spinning the basketball thing, it was just lame, and it was a weird moment. It was weird for Tatum. It was weird for everybody,” Simmons added.
The two former teammates spent nine seasons together in Boston and won the 2024 NBA championship. Brown earned Eastern Conference Finals MVP and Finals MVP honors before Boston traded him to Philadelphia in July.
Tatum finished Tuesday's game with 21 points and six rebounds, while Brown recorded 13 points and five rebounds.