Jaylen Brown‘s trade to the Philadelphia 76ers was one of the most surprising offseason moves. Brown had just finished his best season with the Boston Celtics, averaging a career-high 28.7 points per game. Despite his strong outing, the front office traded him to the 76ers for Paul George and future draft assets.

Brown never publicly said he wanted to leave the Celtics. Rumors about a potential deal to the Milwaukee Bucks for Giannis Antetokounmpo emerged in the summer. However, he never imagined that a deal would happen. After the trade, Brown claimed that he felt disrespected by the Celtics’ front office.

Additionally, several media personnel claimed that Brown and his former co-star, Jayson Tatum, have beef.

Amid the rumored beef, former NBA player Brian Scalabrine said the 2024 Finals MVP wanted to leave the Celtics. The former champion poured gasoline on the “feud” on Monday’s episode of his SiriusXM radio show, “The Starting Lineup.”

“I think Jaylen Brown lives in his own reality. But because it wasn’t being documented that he demanded to be traded, then I don’t think that anybody thinks that he could—now, he could say that it was Tatum’s fault,” Scalabrine said.

“Like, he could just make stuff up. But my understanding is Jaylen Brown went to the organization and had a list of demands. And it was like, ‘You either do this or you trade me.’”

Scalabrine added that Jaylen Brown brought up the possibility of playing for Milwaukee.

“He was rooting to get traded to Milwaukee,” he continued.

The former player also said Brown called some of his teammates and asked for thoughts about playing for the Bucks.

Jayson Tatum’s Absence in Game 7 Was Jaylen Brown’s Reason for Leaving

Both Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum have denied rumors of a rift between them. However, that has not stopped the media from stirring up reports about their beef. According to Brian Geltzeiler on Monday, one of the biggest reasons Brown wanted to leave Boston was that Tatum did not play in Game 7 of their first-round series against the Philadelphia 76ers.

“I do think this comes back to the crux of Jaylen Brown’s unhappiness at the end of his Celtics tenure had a whole lot to do with Jayson Tatum not playing in Game 7 of the first round against Philadelphia,” Geltzeiler said.

Tatum sat out Game 7 because of left knee stiffness and a mandatory return-to-play medical protocol.

The Celtics did not perform well against the 76ers. Brown (33 points) and Derrick White (26 points) were the only starters to score in double digits. Additionally, Payton Pritchard, Neemias Queta and Sam Hauser were the only players to score off the bench.

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