Jason Kidd calls Jaylen Brown, not Tatum, the Celtics’ ‘best player’

BOSTON — Raising the eyebrows of assembled media Saturday afternoon, Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said Jaylen Brown — and not the more decorated Jayson Tatum — was the Boston Celtics’ “best player.”

Asked after Dallas’ practice about what is “challenging” playing against Brown in the NBA Finals, Kidd paused, smirked and said, “Umm, well Jaylen is their best player, so just looking at what he does defensively, he picked up Luka (Dončić) full court, he got to the free-throw line, he did everything.

“That’s what your best player does.”

Brown scored a team-high 22 points in Boston’s 107-89 win in Game 1 and added six rebounds, three blocks and three steals. He attempted 11 free throws but only made six.

Perhaps Kidd doesn’t place a premium on making those shots, only taking them. Meanwhile, Tatum scored 16 points with 11 rebounds but shot 6 of 16 in Game 1.

At any rate, with Game 2 at 8 p.m. (ET) Sunday at TD Garden, the opposing coach re-introduced a discussion the Celtics don’t particularly like.

“They just need to focus on the truth,” said Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla on his top two players. “At the end of the day, nobody knows because they’re not in the locker room.”

Added Tatum: “We understand that people try to drive a wedge between us. I guess that’s a smart thing for Jason to try to do. But we’ve been in this position for many years, of people trying to divide us, say that one of us should be traded and one’s better than the other. So it’s not the first time.”

Tatum and Brown have been paired together since the 2016-17 season.

Tatum, 26, is a five-time All-Star, three-time All-NBA first-teamer and averaged 23.1 points per game in his career. He will play in his second Olympics this summer and is eligible for a contract extension worth more than $300 million.

Brown, 27, has made three All-Star teams and one All-NBA selection (second team). He is averaging 18.6 points in his career and last summer was awarded what at the time was the largest contract extension in NBA history — five years and $304 million.

“It’s a team game and we’re trying to focus on that, and, you know, everybody has their own opinions,” Brown said.

Brown felt he was snubbed for not making any All-NBA teams this season. And just days after learning he didn’t make it, was surprised when five of nine media panelists voted him over Tatum as Eastern Conference finals MVP. The vote led to a discussion on NBA media programming that seemed to pit Brown and Tatum against each other, which the Celtics took offense to.

Tatum said he and Brown have had private discussions about outside attempts to divide them.

“We’ve been just extremely focused on what our roles and our jobs are,” Brown said. “We have all had to sacrifice. Jayson has had to do that at the highest levels, and I respect him and tip my cap for it. But right now at this point, it’s whatever it takes.”

Perhaps he was sharing his honest opinion, but Kidd, who has two NBA championship rings, knows how to play this game.

“He plays both sides, defense and offense, at a high rate and he’s been doing that the whole playoffs,” Kidd said of Brown. “You talk about Eastern Conference finals MVP, and he seems like he’s continued to pick up where he left off.”

Al Horford, who is Boston’s oldest player and 38, smiled when asked about Kidd’s tactic.

“Jason Kidd … I see what he’s doing,” Horford said. “I see what he’s doing. Jaylen is an unbelievable player. An unbelievable player.”

— Tim Cato contributed to this story.

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(Photo: Jesse D. Garrabrant / NBAE via Getty Images)