Hold the beef. Order lamb chops. Tatum and Brown serve up drama on the menu when Celtics visit 76ers

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum — once anchors of an NBA championship team in Boston — have had no time to talk since the trade that ended their working relationship.

Ok, fine.

The former Celtics teammates have certainly had opportunities to catch up since Brown was traded to the rival 76ers in July for Paul George and draft picks.

They just don't want to — and Brown and Tatum sure don't plan to make small talk when the Celtics play Tuesday night in Philadelphia in the first matchup between the top two teams in the Eastern Conference.

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Brown said Sunday in Chicago. “He’s on his side; I’m on my side. Both of us are trying to win. Nothing to talk about. Check the ball up."

The trade has been a success for both teams. The 76ers. with Brown and LeBron James aboard, are 9-2 and tied with the Lakers for the best record in the NBA .

The Celtics have the second-best record in the East at 8-2.

“I think it should be fun,” Brown said. “Never let a good opportunity for our team to show what we’re made of. I’m looking forward to it. Two heavyweights in the East. Let’s get it.”

Both stars are well aware the headlines and social media posts for this one are well beyond how both teams are playing on the court, or even how the Celtics blew a 3-1 series lead to Philadelphia in last season's playoffs.

“It's another game on the schedule,” Tatum said Sunday in Milwaukee. “It's nothing more than Celtics versus Sixers.”

As for potential chitchat, Tatum said he's “not able to tell the future.”

The trade busted up one of the league’s most successful 1-2 punches, after Brown and Tatum helped carry the Celtics to the 2024 NBA title.

Tatum missed most of last season while recovering from an Achilles tendon tear that happened during the 2025 playoffs, meaning Brown had to carry even more of the load for Boston — and he wound up with career-best averages of 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists.

Brown and Tatum’s off-court relationship was dissected throughout NBA media circles, and the question of whether they were more frenemies than friends could have strained their effectiveness this season in Boston.

Brown also seemed to feel underappreciated, a perception that only deepened when the Celtics included him in trade talks with Milwaukee when Giannis Antetokounmpo was on the market.

The Celtics instead stunned the NBA when Brown — the 2024 NBA Finals MVP and a five-time All-Star — was sent to the 76ers. When Brown got the call that Boston had traded him , he threw his phone across the room.

Brown said last month there was “ no beef ” between himself and Tatum , even as their squabbles dragged into the season.

“There might be a little lamb chops and some gravy," Brown said last month in response to a social media post. "He should stay ready at all times.”

Brown took issue with Tatum saying in a video on his YouTube channel that he was “just as much caught off guard as the rest of the world” by Brown’s trade to the Philadelphia.

Brown responded on his Instagram account with a baseball cap emoji . “Cap” is slang for something that is not true. Asked if he had any response, Tatum sighed in October before expressing his frustrations with the entire situation for several minutes.

Both players have spoken glowingly about how they grew and thrived together during their nine years as teammates.

But the relationship has evolved since the Celtics chose Tatum as the player they wanted to build around after trading Brown in what amounted to a move to cut one of the two players with $300 million contracts from the payroll.

“I don’t have any animosity or beef, or ill will towards him," Tatum said. "I think the toughest part is since he’s not on the Celtics anymore, the narrative or the conversations haven’t been enough about what we accomplished — all the games we won, winning a championship, how we’ve grown together. It’s turned into this drama type of thing."

Who doesn't love a little drama in the NBA?

The game streams on Peacock and no doubt cameras and reporters will crowd the court ahead of the game trying to glean any interactions between the two stars.

Then the ball goes up. Brown said his feelings are in check.

“As of now, I've got no emotion toward nothing,” Brown said in Chicago.

He's focused on leading the 76ers into NBA championship contention and a 2-1 road trip did nothing to dim the soaring expectations set for the franchise.

There are more good times ahead for Brown.

And none of them involve Tatum.

“I'm looking forward to our growth,” Brown said, “and we'll get there.”

AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds in Chicago and Steve Megargee in Milwaukee contributed to this report.

See AP’s full NBA coverage here