On Sunday, Jayson Tatum put up another impressive double-double, but unfortunately, it wasn’t enough for the Celtics. They faced off against the Oklahoma City Thunder, who’ve clearly figured out how to handle Boston. Despite Tatum leading the charge as the top scorer and rebounder for the Celtics, it was the Thunder who came away with the 105-92 victory.

But according to a certain someone, Tatum is “soft”. During a recent Gil’s Arena episode, former Milwaukee Bucks player Brandon Jennings threw some serious shade at Tatum, calling him the softest star the Celtics have ever had.

Yes, you read that right—he went there.

Definitely a bold take. Since then Brandon has been facing heat from everyone.

In response to Jennings’ harsh criticism of the C’s superstar, Ashley Nicole Moss of CBS Sports said, “This isn’t the WWE. This ideology that you have to be mean is ridiculous, it’s stupid… The Boston Celtics are built so it doesn’t have to be Jayson Tatum night in and night out.”

The anchor emphasized that the Celtics’ strength lies in their team-oriented approach, where Tatum isn’t expected to carry the load alone every game. “The Boston Celtics are so lethal and so dangerous because it can be anybody’s night on any given day. It could be any player that is the bane of your existence if you’re on the opposite side of that court,” Moss stated, not bothering to sugarcoat anything!

And now it was Tatum’s turn to clap back. He posted on Instagram, a video of his highlights along with other photos as a carousel post with the caption, “SoFtesT SuPeRstar in CeLtiC HiStoRy” 😅”. The random capitalization is a way to mimic clown voice in text. With his highlights video, he is shutting Jennings up.

The 6-foot-8 forward is having a career-defining season! The numbers are hard to ignore: 28.1 points, 9.2 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 1.3 steals per game. He’s shooting 46.3% from the field and 36.2% from three while averaging 36.4 minutes per game.

You’d think the IG post would be the end, right? Wrong.

Jennings commented on Tatum’s post, “This the energy I want!!!! Carti dropping soon!!! *dracula* *bone* *pumpkin*”. Well, you have to give it to the guy for being a sport about it all! He just might even go the extra mile and say, “I was just doing this to make him better”.

The Carti comment, meanwhile, is an ongoing joke after the rapper said he’d drop his next album on a Friday, so before every Friday, everyone is like Carti dropping soon.

But it seems Tatum’s trainer also had some words for Jennings.

Even Jayson Tatum’s trainer doesn’t hold back

JT’s trainer, Drew Hanlen, was having none of it! He quickly fired back, saying, “I liked Brandon Jennings as a player, but we gotta stop the [cap]… His comment that Tatum is ‘soft’ is pathetic. A soft player couldn’t lead their team in PTS, REB & AST to a title. A soft player wouldn’t have 51 in a G7 or 31/11/8 to win finals.”

Jennings, not one to stay quiet, took another swing, telling Hanlen, “Since you his trainer, make sure he gets MVP this year… I heard you wrote a book called ‘Stop the bulls***’, I’m gonna write part two if he don’t get it.”

But hold up, the real drama unfolded when NBA legend Gilbert Arenas jumped in. Arenas used Tracy McGrady as a comparison, noting that ‘T-Mac’ had a similar laid-back style but still put up big numbers. Arenas made it clear: “28 PPG he’s averaging. Go on out there and get your head bust! I don’t know what soft means.”

Let’s not forget, Tatum and Jennings barely shared the floor together. Their one and only matchup was back in the 2018 Eastern Conference playoffs. Jennings played just 4 minutes and scored two points. Meanwhile, Tatum dropped 14 and grabbed five rebounds in the series-clinching win.

Jayson’s game is legit, no matter how you try to spin it. And at just 26, Tatum is clearly making his case for the Hall of Fame.