Jayson Tatum is one of the most non-confrontational athletes in the league, he likes to stay away from the drama. However, you can only stay low-key for so long when you’re the reigning NBA Champion. Former NBA star Evan Turner has been provoking the Celtics star to get a reaction out of him using a 2021 video that he supposedly hasn’t released yet.
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JT was on his former teammate Jeff Teague’s Club 520 Podcast, where he was asked about Turner’s claim. Turner has been preaching that he had beaten Tatum 5-0 in a one-on-one game back in 2021. A claim like that against one of the best players in the league is bound to make some heads turn.
Spotting the right opportunity, the podcast’s co-host put JT on the spot to get his response on the claim, “Can we get on that story, cuz Evan Turner said he whooped you’re a** one day in practice on some 1v1.”
Tatum responded, “That’s probably the reason I don’t address a lot of things. People say a lot of things on the Internet, on TV about me. Everybody got a job…sometimes you just can’t let people get away with lying.”
A promotional clip for the episode was posted on X, which had Tatum’s remark that Turner has been lying about him going scoreless in a 1v1 in practice. This caught Turner’s attention and he quote-tweeted the post, offering to release the footage with a caveat.
The 36-year-old wrote, “If this tweet gets 100k likes then I’ll release the video footage of me beating Tatum 5-0 back in 2021.”
If this tweet gets 100k likes then I’ll release the video footage of me beating Tatum 5-0 back in 2021 https://t.co/uAF2DEdTa9
— Evan Turner (@thekidet) November 4, 2024
Turner was the assistant coach for the Boston Celtics back in 2021. He held that position for just one year. That’s supposedly when this incident took place.
Turner was also an athlete for the Celtics but he left Boston a year before Tatum was drafted. It’s uncertain if the former Trail Blazers guard really has a footage of beating Tatum. But even if he had, bragging about a three-year-old practice session clip isn’t going to get him any applause, except a few comments on the Internet.
Even Tatum trolled Turner’s desperate attempt to prove that he beat the Celtics star, saying that the latter was seeking a 10-day contract on the back of the claim.
Evan Turner has some animosity built up against Jayson Tatum
For a superstar of his stature, surprisingly, JT doesn’t have beef with anyone in the league. However, it seems like something is boiling up between him and his former assistant coach. Earlier this year when Tatum was not getting minutes on the Olympic team, Turner took a shot at him on his social media account.
He posted on X, “I wish I would cut my hair for the Olympics and you don’t play me.” At the time, JT was not getting minutes on the floor despite being the reigning NBA Champion.
However, this feud seems more like Turner taking shots at Tatum to create a ruckus.
I wish I would cut my hair for the Olympics and you don't play me
— Evan Turner (@thekidet) July 28, 2024
Chances are that we’ll never get to the end of this because Tatum doesn’t like to go off on people and entertain trolls.