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Anthony Gharib, ESPN
The ongoing verbal clash involving former NBA guard Brandon Jennings and Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum welcomed another member Wednesday — the Toronto Raptors.
The Raptors defeated the Celtics 110-97, ending a 10-game losing streak against Boston. Tatum had 16 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists on 5-of-15 shooting.
Toronto’s 10th win of the season came with a calculated troll postgame as it posted a picture of Jennings.
— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) January 16, 2025
Boston’s star and Jennings have engaged in a back-and-forth the past week on social media.
While on Gilbert Arenas’ podcast Jan. 5, Jennings asked if Tatum was the “softest Boston Celtics superstar ever,” pointing to Jaylen Brown being last season’s NBA Finals MVP.
“If you’re so tough, why you didn’t get Finals MVP last year?” Jennings said, while Arenas and co-host Lexie Brown offered pushback. “Why’d you let your running mate [Jaylen Brown] do it?”
He slightly walked back his soft comment, saying rather that he would be more afraid of Brown on the court.
“Not afraid, more just like, it’s going to be tough today. Damn, I got to be on my s— today,” he added.
Tatum responded in various ways, including a caption from an Instagram post last week
Last Friday, he addressed it in a postgame news conference after losing to the Sacramento Kings.
Tatum clarified he’s not mad, but “had some time [Thursday]” to address it. But he said he wasn’t surprised that all the noise around his play hasn’t gone away after winning a title.
“Surprised? No. I think it comes with being one of the best players in the league,” Tatum said. “The more you accomplish, the more it gives people the opportunity to nitpick at things. If I wasn’t who I was or had a certain status, people would probably not talk about me as much. But I’m not the first superstar in league history to deal with this. It comes with it.”
Jennings stirred the pot again Tuesday, arguing that Tatum isn’t a top-five Celtic of all time. He put Bill Russell, Paul Pierce, Kevin McHale, Larry Bird and Kevin Garnett on his list, again receiving pushback from Arenas.
Whether or not Jennings will slow down, the Raptors made sure to get their troll in while the iron was hot.