This whole beef thing is stupid and it doesn't reflect well on JB.
I understand why he would be butthurt at getting traded:
- he was drafted a year earlier, and probably felt he was the "senior player";
- by year 2 Tatum had surpassed him and grabbed the limelight during that disastrous 2019-20 season when nobody was in charge of the team and he became by default "the guy" for the Cs
- Mainly because Tatum's numbers were better, and he ended up becoming the focal point of the team for both Brad, Ime and Joe, Brown swallowed his pride and played his Robin role even after he won Finals MVP in 2024. The team rewarded him with a supermax where he was briefly the NBA's highest paid player, despite furious debate (here and elsewhere) as to whether he was worth it
- Tatum got hurt and missed virtually the whole season last season, where Brown stepped up, finished 6th in MVP voting, had career highs in PPG, and said it was his most enjoyable season.
Despite that, the team traded him, implying the reason was because they weren't willing to pay him a supermax extension. Brad said he wanted "optionality" and you couldn't have optionality if you had 2 players taking up 70% of the cap, like they had in the past. Unspoken in that was "we're prepared to give Jayson a supermax extension despite his injury, but we're not prepared to do the same for Jaylen, despite his career, most enjoyable season".
So in Jaylen's mind he felt dissed and passed over for a guy he felt he's just as good as, if not better then. And Jaylen is the type of guy who broods over these injustices. I don't there's any beef from Tatum's side, but I can understand why there would be from Jaylen's. And when he feels insecure, Jaylen goes to social media or his podcast and posts passive aggressive comments.
I don't think he's necessarily mad at JT for anything JT did to him, but JT has become the focus of his resentment. Kind of like if you were working for a company, they hire a guy a year after you, you rise thru the ranks together but the other guy gets promoted before you, gets the plum projects, then the guy gets sick for a year, they promote you to his place, you feel like you did an awesome job, the staff love you, then the guy comes back and the company says "sorry we don't have enough money to pay you both so we're going to move you on and stick with him". So he probably felt major dissed. He's mad at the situation and JT is the manifestation of his unhappiness.
As for Tatum he's just playing his game. Contrary to what most people think, I think most (good) GMs don't involve players in roster decisions because of the awkwardness, they don't want to put players in that position. They don't want to cede authority to a player when it comes to something like that, because then you end up with a "Lebum as GM" type situation. I don't think Brad and Co even knew for sure themselves the trade would happen until it did and they certainly wouldn't have told Tatum "maybe we might trade Jaylen but we're not sure yet." That's not how it happens in professional organizations, sporting or otherwise.
So while I can understand Jaylen's resentment, and he's probably using it to fuel himself, since he seems to be the type of guy who needs to play with a chip on his shoulder, all the passive aggressive stuff is coming across as being really petty. If he's upset then talk to the guy.
Obviously the media has a huge interest in it, because they can weave this narrative throughout the entire NBA season. It's like a jilted lover story, a lover scorned and seeking revenge. And if JB needs it to fuel himself then he'll just keep posting his little passive aggressive comments. Obviously the Sixers fans will love it. But all this is just making him look pathetic.
