"When I First Got Traded, I Just Threw My Phone Across The Room" - Watching Jaylen Brown's Sixers Introductory Press Conference Was As Surreal As It Gets

Brian Choi. Getty Images.

As I mentioned in my earlier blog, it's going to take my brain some time to get used to this whole Jaylen Brown is now a Sixer thing. Seeing him hold up the jersey at Summer League was one thing, seeing him rock the black alternate jersey on his stream was another level, and now today came the next hurdle.

The Jaylen Brown Introductory Press Conference.

Obviously there was no avoiding this step, and I can't lie, watching it was weird as fuck. The whole thing still feels a bit like we're living in a simulation, if I'm being honest. It's not even so much that Jaylen Brown was traded, I think most can understand the process behind that. The weird part for my brain is seeing him as a Sixer. That's never going to feel right to both my brain and my heart. If Jaylen was say, a Milwaukee Buck right now, the whole thing is probably much easier to digest. It's pretty annoying that I in no way can root for any post-Celtics success for Jaylen simply because it will mean the Sixers will be benefiting from it.

I will say, while a lot of his presser made me want to claw my eyes out, there was one part that I did find extremely relatable

You and me both Jaylen, you and me both. I think it's safe to say there was a pretty strong crashout in the Greenie household when that Shams notification came through, where I basically turned into Ari Gold

Giphy Images.

Again, it wasn't just the trade, it's where he was going (and what the return was) that was all a little much in the moment. I know there are some anti-Jaylen Celts fans that probably celebrated that moment, but that is not exactly how I would describe my reaction. As time went on and cooler heads prevailed you could at least see and understand Brad Stevens' thinking, but in the moment? It's comforting to know that both myself and Jaylen had the same reaction. That also was reassuring to know that this wasn't a situation where he demanded a trade or any of that shit that was floated around when it happened. He was as pissed as many of us were.

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Another thing that was unavoidable that you knew was coming was questions about his Celtics tenure

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"I look back at the city of Boston and I'm grateful. I've been able to develop as a man, as a human being there, spend a lot of time in the community, a lot of time at universities studying and learning, figuring out how to approach how I wanted to go about my philanthropy, figure out how I wanted to approach, how to carry myself. A lot of my most important years, my most developmental years as a young man, I spent in Boston. I got there at 19…I got my degree in Boston in a sense. I spent time there. So the relationships are still there, the connection is still there. I'm looking forward to continuing my foundation work as well as expanding it, to Philadelphia. But I'm very grateful for my experience, my tenure in Boston. 10 years is a perfect cycle, perfect number for completion. We won a championship and I have nothing but respect for the city of Boston. But now it's time to move forward a little bit"

Giphy Images.

Even though this isn't the first time we've heard this statement given he's said as much on his stream, it's still depressing as shit to hear. Love him or hate him, the fact remains that Jaylen Brown was a tremendous Celtic. One of the best to ever do it. What he meant for this era of the team, for the city, for the fanbase, it's legend shit. Sometimes I think people lose sight of that a little bit. I've been around A LONG time. I've seen A LOT of Celtics over the course of my lifetime. This type of player does not come around often. Not just from the basketball side, but also the community side. It was a privilege to have Jaylen Brown as part of the Celtics and the Boston community. I can probably count on one hand how many homegrown franchise players of this level we got to experience, and I almost definitely don't need every finger. 

It's why he's a lock to get #7 raised to the rafters. It's why this trade feels different from some others we've lived through recently (Smart, Rob etc). But as he said, it's time to move forward. 

Up next, what about the Jayson Tatum piece of this whole thing? 

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I think this pretty much tells us all we need to know. The first part of the answer was pretty boiler plate stuff, which I also think tells us something. But the last part? That pretty much seals it. The "not really" answer speaks volumes. It's clear between the subtle shots each clearly took towards the other these last few weeks, and that answer tells us that things most likely weren't all rainbows and butterflies. Will we ever know the truth/details? Probably not. But I think that answer told us everything we need to know. My guess is Jaylen resents that Tatum probably didn't do more to keep him, and Tatum is probably relieved he no longer has to share the spotlight/usage/etc. 

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It is a bit crazy that after 10 years of the media trying to pit Tatum against Brown while they were teammates, now they really are pitted against each other as rivals. That's going to be weird as hell to watch too. It's one thing when they went at each other during the All Star Game. This, is an entirely different level. Those games are going to be must watch, and as a Celtics fan I'm going to need Tatum to dominate every matchup for the rest of time now that they've been split. You know Jaylen will be motivated, so I need Tatum to answer the call there as well. 

All in all, as I expected it to be, the whole presser was surreal to watch. Maybe now that it's happened it can serve as closure or something, but we'll be right back doing this dance come October 8th in the preseason should everyone be playing. The next hurdle will be Jaylen's return in a real regular season game that counts, which as you can imagine, will also be weird as hell.