Celtics' Tatum denies 'beef' with 76ers' Brown after trade: This isn't Shaq and Kobe

Jayson Tatum used most of his postgame news conference Friday night to shut down speculation about his relationship with former Boston Celtics teammate Jaylen Brown, insisting the two have no bad blood after Brown's summer trade to the Philadelphia 76ers.

"I don't have any animosity or beef or ill will towards him," Tatum told reporters after Boston's 107-103 home-opening win over the New York Knicks, according to ESPN.

The social-media chatter began when Brown posted a blue-hat emoji - slang for "cap," meaning a lie - on Instagram, prompting fans to wonder whether he was responding to something Tatum had said. Tatum compared the saga to one of the NBA's most famous feuds: "This ain't no f---ing Shaq and Kobe," he said of Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant's Los Angeles Lakers partnership. "There's no beef, it's not about that."

Tatum said he reached out to Brown the day of the trade: "I called, I texted." He also noted both men are now in their late 20s: "At this point in our lives, we're too old to be having our relationship discussed on the internet."

The pair were drafted a year apart - Brown in 2016, Tatum in 2017 - and won a championship together over Dallas in 2024, plus a 2022 Finals appearance and five Eastern Conference finals trips in eight years. Tatum finished Friday's win with 36 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, his best outing since last spring's playoffs.