Tatum: Celtics need Brown to be ‘best version of ourselves’

BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Celtics have operatedat their best when All-Stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are bothbeing playing their best basketball at the same time.

Whether that partnership can endure long enough for them to leadthe franchise to an 18th NBA title has been the persistent questionsurrounding the Celtics each of the past two seasons as rumors haveswirled about Boston’s willingness to possibly trade Brown for morehigh-profile stars.

It included this past offseason when reports surfaced aboutpossible trade discussions between Boston and Brooklyn after KevinDurant levied a trade request.

Brown has been consistent in saying he has not let any of therumors be a distraction for him on the court, as evidenced himaveraging career highs in points (26.7) and rebounds this season.He had 27 points and seven rebounds in the Celtics’ 120-95 win overthe Indiana Pacers on Friday night, helping Boston stay in the huntto catch Milwaukee for the top seed in the Eastern Conferenceplayoffs.

But he also acknowledged in a recent interview with The Ringerthat he was bothered enough by the most recent Durant trade chatterthat he was compelled to reach out to both Tatum and president ofbasketball operations Brad Stevens in a conference call.

Tatum confirmed that detail after Friday’s win, saying that heand Stevens let Brown know in that call that he was a valued memberof the organization.

“Just reassuring the obvious — that we need him,” Tatum said.“He’s a big part of this team, this franchise. Without him, wecan’t reach our goal. You guys know that. The world knows that. Theteam knows that. We need him to be the best version ofourselves.”

Though Brown maintains a mostly calm demeanor on the court, hesaid Friday that he tries to be upfront about things when he feelsit’s necessary.

“I’m a type of person that likes to let people know how I’mfeeling about certain things and certain situations,” Brown said.“And sometimes when I don’t speak, people speak for you. Andsometimes things get taken out of context and gets lost intranslation. I mean, those things happen.

“But I pick and choose my spots. Obviously, I’m not going toovercompensate myself and just speak on everything and just leteverybody know how I feel about everything because sometimes itain’t everybody’s business. … In a sense I do enjoy using myplatform to speak on certain topics.”