The Celts’ duo, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have gone through a ton of mind games. Not to forget Jason Kidd’s trick to create a rift between the stars by igniting the ‘who is the team’s best player’ dilemma ahead of the Finals series. Luckily, it didn’t have an effect. Notably, Kidd later clarified that he wasn’t intending “mind games”. But the duo had a similar situation three years ago that almost showed them the exit door until Kemba Walker stepped in. Now, the champion duo come together to bid farewell to the veteran guard.

Walker, 34, announced his retirement from the NBA on Tuesday with a wholesome note on X. The caption of the post simply read, “Thank you, basketball.” Moreover, he expressed his gratitude for the game, saying, “Basketball has done more for me than I could’ve ever imagined, and I am super thankful for the amazing journey I’ve had. With that, I’m here to share that I am officially retiring from the game of basketball.” 

Kemba Walker turned into the face of the Charlotte Hornets during his 8-season stint. The star even went on to clinch the all-time scoring leader title of the Buzz City. Ahead of the 2019-20 season, he moved to the Boston Celtics and stayed there for two seasons until the knee injury troubled him out. However, during his stay, he developed a great bond with JT and JB. As a reflection of it, both took to their IG stories and shared a picture of them standing on the court with Walker to celebrate his retirement.

The recent success of the Celtics is majorly courtesy of the superstar duo and their journey together in the last few years. And Kemba Walker held a pivotal role in keeping the duo strong together at one point, despite the noise. In an interview two years ago, Walker said, “I was really proud of those guys because we definitely had some great convos between the three of us a lot… Those two guys are just two special talents and special people.”

However, that raises the question, what really happened between the Celtics scoring duo?

Kemba asked Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to “block” a key component in sports

One might not believe that the superstar duo had to come across a ‘break-up’ situation. It’s even more shocking, especially after witnessing Jaylen Brown‘s wholesome gesture during the Finals MVP acceptance speech. He said, “My partner-in-crime, Jayson Tatum, he was with me the whole way. We share this sh*t together.” However, in reality, they had to cross a hurdle to come this far.

When these two stars entered the Celtics fold in the late 2010s, they were already seen as the future of the team. A lot of noise in the background claimed that the duo couldn’t play together. And it was rampant.

Jayson Tatum once even tried to put an end to this with an interview in 2021, saying that they have healthy competition between them. He added, “I think the next step for us is even feeding off each other more in a game.” And Brown simply put it as, “If y’all want to hear it from me, that’s my dog.”

But before reaching that calming mindset, they needed a Kemba Walker. The veteran guard speaking with Adrian Wojnarowski said, “I remember me telling those guys because they’ve always seen the talks and everybody saying they can’t play with each other. I always told them ‘Just block that out.'” And he also wanted the duo to “love each other”. 

Exactly going by his words, the duo haven’t given up on each other. Are you foreseeing a back-to-back Boston title? Let us know below.

Before you go, do not forget to check out Shaquille O’Neal’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, to open up about the infamous Shaq-Kobe feud. Keep checking this space for more such updates.