Jrue Holiday Explains Why He Said Jaylen Brown Is Better Than Jayson Tatum

Jrue Holiday Explains Why He Said Jaylen Brown Is Better Than Jayson TatumJrue Holiday Explains Why He Said Jaylen Brown Is Better Than Jayson Tatum

Jrue Holiday raised some eyebrows this week when he seemed to suggest that Jaylen Brown is a better player than Jayson Tatum.

The first salvo in this whole situation was fired by Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd.

“Well Jaylen’s their best player,” Kidd said on Saturday. “Just looking at what he does defensively, he picked up Luka [Doncic] full court, got to the free throw line, he did everything. That’s what your best player does.”

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Holiday was asked about Kidd’s comments and offered something of a surprising reply before Game 2.

“I don’t think he’s lying,” Holiday asserted.

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On Sunday, following Game 2, Holiday attempted to clear the air.

“If I could say something before we jump in, I want to address the comment that was made yesterday,” he said.

“I feel like people kind of took that out of context. I’ve been hearing that I prefer JB over JT and that’s not what that was. I like to praise my teammates. I like to praise my teammates when they’re playing well, and I feel like that’s what I did my best to do.

“When I got here, JT was the first person to text me. And both of them know how I feel about them, how I feel about them as players. But to compare them is something that I would never do because they’re two completely different players as well as being on the same team, and the things that they have done in this organization and the things that they have done against me as an opponent,” he continued.

“I feel like how they play together and how they work together is something that is sacred and something that can’t be broken. So just to address the comment yesterday, I do not prefer one or the other. I prefer both. Both of them are superstars, and it’s being shown out here on the biggest stage in the world.”

While Holiday’s attempt to clean up what he said is understandable, it is also hard to ignore that Tatum has been awful in the NBA Finals. Brown has clearly been Boston’s best player thus far.

Will Holiday’s course-correction inspire better play from Tatum going forward? Time will tell.