"It's no beef, but it might be a little lamb chops and some gravy. He should stay ready at all times."
Philadelphia 76ers wing Jaylen Brown's cryptic response Saturday to Jayson Tatum's comments didn't do anything to ease rumors of tension between the former Boston Celtics duo.
Tatum downplayed rumors of a "Shaq and Kobe" situation when he addressed the media on Friday after Brown had commented a cap emoji on an Instagram post of Tatum re-telling his reaction of when he found out the Celtics had traded Brown "down the street" to Philly.
"All of y'all kind of saw us grow up and everything that we accomplished," Tatum told reporters. "... Like, how many people play in this league and never went to the Finals? We went twice and won a championship. So it should be more about that. This ain't no (expletive) Shaq and Kobe. It's not about that.
"It should be more praise, and I understand that don't necessarily sell. Drama gets clicks and views, but that's not my thing."
Brown, for his part, agreed with Tatum that there was no beef between the two. But he didn't fully shut down the rumors, and rather seemed to play into them.
"There's no beef. It should never ever be that. It's just basketball, we're both blessed," Brown told reporters after the Sixers' 127-116 win over the Milwaukee Bucks. "But it might be a little lamb chops. We'll be all right."
Jaylen Brown on Jayson Tatum's comment last night:
— Oh No He Didn't 🤯 (@ohnohedidnt24) October 25, 2026
"There's no beef, but it might be a little lamb chops and some gravy. He should stay ready at all times" pic.twitter.com/mT8QbJRQFZ
Brown, who scored 27 points shooting 9-for-19 with five assists and three steals on Saturday, added that he has not had a conversation with his former teammate recently − and it doesn't seem like he plans to, either.
"We both got so much stuff in front of us," he said. "At the end of the day, you gotta do what you gotta do for his team, I gotta do what I do for my team. Jayson's a great guy. Great family. Hell of a basketball player, hell of a PR team.
"It's no beef but, you now, it'll be a little lamb chop."
Maybe there isn't beef. Maybe there was no real trouble in paradise that just two years ago brought the first NBA championship back to the TD Garden since 2008. It could be that Brown is simply playing it up as a manufactured chip on his shoulder, or even just for his own personal amusement.
Whatever the reason or intent, he's clearly getting a kick out of it.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jaylen Brown says there's no beef with Jayson Tatum, but ... there's 'lamb chops and gravy?'