BOSTON, MA — The “divide and conquer” military tactic has been around for centuries. It involves creating dissent from within and ensuring that a rival is too separated to come together. During a Saturday afternoon press conference, Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd seemingly tried to employ this crafty strategy against the Boston Celtics ahead of Game 2 of the 2024 NBA Finals.
When asked a straightforward question about slowing down Celtics star Jaylen Brown, the Mavs tactician hesitated a bit before delivering an intriguing answer.
“Well, Jaylen’s their best player,” he stated. “He did everything. And does what the best player does … He plays both sides at a higher rate, and he’s been doing that the whole playoffs. We're talking about the Eastern Conference [Finals] MVP.”
In Game 1, Brown had a team-high 22 points for the Celtics en route to their 107-89 victory. Although five-time All-Star Jayson Tatum is often considered Boston's best player, Kidd went out of his way to say that Brown was the top guy.
This constant comparison of the Celtics' dynamic duo is nothing new. As a result, Tatum and Brown knew how to address the provoking comment.
How Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown shut down Jason Kidd comments
When Brown was inevitably asked for his reaction to being called the “best player” by Kidd, he didn't bite much at the bait:
“I don't have no reaction,” he said bluntly. “I don't know. It's a team game. We're trying to focus on that, and, you know, everybody has their own opinions.”
Soon after, Brown delved more into the never-ending “Tatum vs. Brown” conversation:
“We've been just extremely focused on what our roles and our jobs are,” he reiterated. “We have all had to sacrifice. Jayson has had to do that at the highest of levels, right, and I respect him and tip his cap for it. Right now, at this point, it's whatever it takes to win and we can't let any outside interpretations try to get in between us.”
This season, a few of Tatum's averages went down thanks to Boston's formidable starting five. While sharing the floor with Brown, center Kristaps Porzingis, and others hurt some of his numbers, it allowed the Celtics to notch the best overall record in the entire league.
Like Brown, Tatum is more concerned about winning on the NBA's biggest stage than boosting his stats.
“This is a team sport, right. We understand that,” Tatum told the media. “We wouldn't be here if we didn't have JB on our team, and we can say that for a lot of guys, right. We have all played a part in getting to where we're at, and we understand that people try to drive a wedge between us. I guess it's a smart thing to do or try to do.”
When the Celtics won the Eastern Conference Finals following a sweep of the Indiana Pacers, Brown was named the MVP of the semifinal series. The entire team celebrated Brown's accomplishment on stage once he received his trophy, but that wasn't enough for some members of the national media. A few ESPN talking heads even implied that Tatum was jealous of the fact that Brown got the Conference Finals MVP:
Clearly, attempts to pit Tatum and Brown against one another are commonplace.
“We've been in this position for many of years of guys trying to divide us and say that one of us should be traded or one is better than the other,” Tatum said. “So it's not our first time at the rodeo.”
Prior to the Finals, Tatum led his squad in points, assists, and rebounds this postseason. He's acted as more of a facilitator than a pure scorer at times, which has led to plenty of open looks for the rest of the Green Team.
Tatum had a game-high 14 potential assists in Game 1, as he was consistently swarmed by multiple defenders and would have to pass it out to break down Dallas' harassing defense. While the series opener wasn't his finest hour (six turnovers, 6-for-16 shooting), he did enough to move the ball under heavy pressure.
“They really just kind of test your discipline,” he said of the Mavs' defense. “They test, are you going to make the right play over and over and over again. Even if it's not resulting in you getting the shots or you scoring all the points … You just have to stay committed to doing what's right and making the right play until they adjust their defense.”
For the C's to increase their series lead, they'll need Brown to continue to play at a high level and Tatum to avoid preventable mistakes during Game 2 on Sunday night. In addition, they'll have to block out the noise from Kidd and the media, yet they already seem to be on top of that.
“They can look at it however they want,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla answered when asked about Kidd's claim. “At the end of the day, what goes on in our locker room, how we communicate with each other, how we build relationships with each other, and how we treat each other on and off the floor, that's the most important thing.”
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