Ashley Nicole Moss comes to Jayson Tatum's defense after $16,000,000 ex-Knicks guard's "soft" claim

CBS analyst Ashley Nicole Moss defended Celtics star Jayson Tatum amid accusations of being 'soft' hurled at him by former Knicks guard Brandon Jennings. Moss highlighted the Celtics' team basketball philosophy in her rant and emphasized Tatum's achievements in the playoffs.

"This isn't the WWE or MMA. It doesn't matter if you're soft or if you're hard or if you're somewhere in the middle. It does not matter." said the CBS analyst

On a recent epsiode of Gil's Arena, Jennings who has a net worth of $16 million(according to Celebrity Net Worth), called out the 5x All-Star for not projecting the confidence and alpha male identity desirous of superstars in the NBA. On a subsequent episode, he doubled down on his take and stood firm on his original stance despite receiving backlash online.

“Is [Tatum] the softest Boston Celtics superstar ever. … I think I’ll be more afraid of Jaylen Brown than Jayson Tatum,” Jennings said

Nicole Moss also humorously drilled home her point by shutting down any suggestion of the Celtics star lacking personality. She contrasted the skillset required by professional basketball players to beauty pageant contestants.

"The whole thing of 'Jayson Tatum is too quiet' ... Is this Miss America? Like, is this a personality contest? What does it matter? There are players with different types of personalities. Jayson Tatum is a killer when he needs to be" - Ashley Nicole Moss

Incidentally, the 2024 edition of Miss America was won by Utah Jazz center, Walker Kessler's girlfriend Abbie Stockard, earlier this week.

Jayson Tatum and his trainer fire back at Brandon Jennings

Never the most vocal star in the NBA, Jayson Tatum displayed his chagrin at Jennings' hot take on his Instagram, with a pointed caption on his compilation of his recent highlights and personal moments.

"SoFtesT SuPeRstar in CeLtiC HiStoRy” 😅

Brandon Jennings fired back a salvo in the comments section, complimenting Tatum on his seemingly newfound edge.

“I need all 3 🏆🏆🏆 after 82 games. You know what I’m talking bout @gilsarena we will be there

“This the energy I want!!!!

This exchange transpired a day after Tatum's longtime trainer Drew Hanlen expressed his dissatisfaction at the former Bucks guard's comments towards Tatum.

“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.”

Tatum is averaging 28.1 points, 9.2 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game this season and the Celtics look primed for another deep playoff run with him as the superstar.