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Brandon Jennings: Tim Duncan is the greatest #1 pick ever.
Tyrese Haliburton's trainer to Brandon Jennings: You never won s—t
“Why u so quiet now you groupie a– trainer, Brandon Jennings wrote on X. “Where is the group text chain now!!!! U the biggest basketball groupie trainer ever.” After staying silent the first time, Drew Hanlen did not take the second callout sitting down. The 35-year-old trainer showed off some of his trash-talking skills in his response to Jennings. “I’m getting two of my clients (Haliburton & Chet Holmgren) ready for the finals so don’t have time to waste on your dumba– takes Side note: Maybe if your trainer would talked shit to you, you wouldn’t have shot 37% from the field & 23% from 3 in the playoffs while never winning s–t”
Brandon Jennings on Tyrese Haliburton: 'I don't think he's the most overrated player in the NBA'
Brandon Jennings on Tyrese Haliburton: "I don't think he's the most overrated player in the NBA. I mean, we can find somebody else. Um, but yeah, I just think, you know, I just don't think they like his game. I think it's just Indiana, you know. Um, but he's not he's not the most overrated player in the NBA. I'm not I'm not I'm not rolling with that at all."
What would you do if someone challenged you to a $100,000 one-on-one basketball game? Well, in the NBA world, that kind of bet isn’t just talk – it’s a statement, a statement of ego. Recently, the basketball courts got blown away. Patrick Beverley tossed a $100K battle at Brandon Jennings, daring him to a 1 v 1 showdown. But before anything could hit the court, something wild happened. And no, it wasn’t Jennings stepping up. Let’s rewind a little and zoom in. Beverley, never the one to hold back, didn’t just talk, instead, he called out Jennings with a real-money challenge. This questioned not just Brandon’s skills, but his toughness. And for a hot minute, all eyes were on Jennings – would he respond? Would the former Bucks guard rise to this moment and go at Beverley in a 1v1 all-in match for six figures? But out of nowhere, the plot twisted in true basketball overtime fashion. Enter Nick Young, aka Swaggy P. With Jennings ducking the callout, Young took to his social media and threw his own name into the ring. “See me, play me,” he barked at Beverley, “I would make some easy money after the recession…I need it.” He didn’t just voice his opinion; he also supported Jennings. “BJ, I got you,” he told his co-host.
Today, what I’m saying might come off differently, but back then, the context was everything. So, Brandon, you’ve been in the news lately—on social media—because of a comment you made about Jason Tatum. You called him the 'softest Celtics superstar in history.' Do you still stand by that?" Brandon Jennings: *"Yeah, I definitely stand by it. Like I said before, May and June are coming, and I think my overall point is this: Jaylen Brown has a Finals MVP and was the MVP of the playoffs for Boston, which speaks to his dominance in big moments. That’s where my context came from.
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Jayson Tatum on Brandon Jennings asking if he's the softest superstar in Celtics history: I'm not the first dealing with this
Jayson Tatum is on the verge of making his sixth consecutive All-Star game after winning an NBA title but did not expect barbs coming his way to slow down. “Surprised? No. I think it comes with being one of the best players in the league,” Tatum said of the criticism. “And the more you accomplish, the more it gives people an opportunity to nitpick at things. If I wasn’t who I was or had a certain status, people would probably not talk about me as much. But I’m not the first superstar in league history to deal with this. It comes with it.”
Joe Mazzulla has tried to help his Celtics stars keep perspective by showing Tatum and Jaylen Brown how wrong the media has been about certain NBA stars over the course of their career. “I guess it helps seeing it to put things into perspective,” Tatum said. “It’s (not) something that I didn’t already know. At the end of it, you can look at some of the ridiculous takes people on TV have said about some of the best players to play this game that didn’t necessarily age well. When you see some of the comments that they made about certain guys and how their careers turned out, you just gotta laugh. It’s just part of the journey.”
Jennings played in the NBA from 2009-2018, and since retiring, he has become a recent mainstay on the "Gil's Arena" podcast with fellow NBA alum Gilbert Arenas. On an episode earlier this week, Jennings mused about Tatum's toughness, asking if Tatum is the "softest" superstar in Celtics history. The comment went viral, and soon enough Tatum responded on Instagram. The Celtics forward is usually reserved online and in person, but he took a direct shot at Jennings, posting a number of photos and videos with the playful caption “SoFtesT SuPeRstar in CeLtiC HiStoRy” and an emoji.
After the setback, Tatum spoke publicly the first time after the back and forth with Jennings after the point guard had some pointed comments about the superstar. “Yo, is he the softest Boston Celtics superstar ever?” Jennings asked in an appearance on Gilbert Arenas podcast. “… What do we know about Boston Celtics players? Like anybody that put on a Boston Celtics jersey from the 80s on up. They what? They cutthroat right? If you’re so tough, why you didn’t get Finals MVP last year? Why you let your running mate (Jaylen Brown) do it? If you so tough. If you so all this. Why you didn’t get it? Why you didn’t get it?”
Jay King: In the wake of Brandon Jennings' comments about Jayson Tatum, Joe Mazzulla was asked about former players taking shots at the current generation: "Sometimes the older you get, the better you were as a player. You forget, like – and that’s everybody, people say that. So if we all just kind of remembered what we were then we probably wouldn’t have so many opinions of other people."
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But Jennings wasn't done catching heat from the Celtics. On Thursday morning, C's head coach Joe Mazzulla was asked on 98.5 The Sports Hub's Zolak & Bertrand for his take on Jennings' criticism of Tatum and responded in classic Mazzulla fashion. "First thought was, that's when you use one of your coins," Mazzulla said. "That's a coin." For context, Mazzulla is referencing the alternate universe he imagined during an October interview with Zolak & Bertrand in which everyone in society has five "coins" they can use at any point in a given year to fight a random stranger. "What if we all walked around with like five coins, right? And at any point in time, you can just hand one out, and you just challenge a guy to like, combat,” Mazzulla said at the time. “If you do pull a coin on a guy and he beats you up, like, that’s your fault. You've got to either train harder, or pick and choose your coins better.”
Brandon Jennings: "When the lockout hit, I was in full rap mode. I remember showing up to the first game in Charlotte with a red Phantom, a red Range Rover, and a red Benz. I wasn’t just hooping; I was performing at clubs, booking shows, and promoting my mixtape. I’d pull up, perform, and then meet up with the team after. I had a concert one night, and the next day, I was back on the court. I even went out with Kobe after a show once—it was wild. Looking back, it’s crazy I was balancing all that. I had this energy, this vibe, and I brought it to Milwaukee when I got there. I told the guys, ‘Y’all don’t do anything around here!’ And we turned the vibe around. It wasn’t just basketball; it was about having fun, enjoying the journey, and creating memories along the way."
Brandon Jennings: "When I tore my Achilles in 2015, it was a turning point in my life. I started losing my passion for basketball because that’s when everything else—the stuff outside the game—started to hit me. Money was coming in, but I didn’t know how to handle it. Family issues, friendships, chaos—it all started unraveling. That injury made me realize I had to sit down and reassess my life. I had to figure out who I was beyond basketball. And you know what? It was humbling. It was like God was saying, ‘I need you to fix some things first.’ Looking back, I’m glad I didn’t get that $80 million deal or become an All-Star right then because I wasn’t ready for it. Imagine having all that money with no control over your life? That was my wake-up call. I had to get things in order—my spirituality, my relationships, my priorities."
Brandon Jennings on why Michael Jordan isn't in his Top 5: I didn't really watch basketball when he last won a championship
Brandon Jennings: "I don't have MJ in my Top 5 because when I was seven or eight years old, that was the last time he won a championship. I didn’t really understand basketball like that, so I didn’t really start loving the game until I saw AI and Kobe Bryant in the early 2000s. That’s why he can’t be in my Top 5. I respect him, I can watch his highlight tape, but what I really saw and felt were guys like Steph Curry, LeBron James, Kobe, Shaq, and KD."
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