Jayson Tatum breaks silence on Brandon Jennings criticizing him with "softest" Celtic ever remark 

Jayson Tatum has been on the receiving end of criticism throughout his NBA career. One of his latest naysayers is former NBA player Brandon Jennings, who called him "the softest Boston Celtics superstar ever" on a the Jan. 5 episode of "Gil's Arena." Naturally, NBA fans wanted to know how Tatum would respond.

They got their answer following the Celtics' 114-97 loss to the Sacramento Kings on Friday. Here's what Tatum had to say:

"I wasn't mad," said Tatum with a small grin on his face. "It comes with being one of the best players in the league. The more you accomplish, the more it gives people the opportunity to nitpick."

In 2024, in front of admirers and skeptics alike, Tatum bagged his third All-NBA First Team selection, first NBA championship, and second Olympic gold medal during a particularly fruitful summer.

This cache of accolades seemingly didn't stop Jennings, who played for five teams in his nine-year NBA career, from taking shots at Tatum:

"Why didn't he get Finals MVP last year? Why did your running mate do it, if you're so tough?" Jennings asked amidst a heated discussion with Gilbert Arenas and Nick Young.

Moments later, Jennings posed this rhetorical question:

"Yo, is he the softest Boston Celtics superstar ever?"

As loaded as these words were, Tatum appeared to brush them off as he addressed reporters on Friday. "I'm not the first superstar in league history to deal with this," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

Jayson Tatum's coach fires back at Brandon Jennings

While Tatum took a nonchalant approach to Jennings' comments, his head coach decided to go the passive-aggressive route.

Shortly before the Kings-Celtics game, Joe Mazzulla came to Tatum's defense and clapped back at Jennings without naming any names:

"If we all just kind of remembered what we were then, we probably wouldn’t have so many opinions of other people," Mazzulla said.

It was seemingly a not-so-subtle jab at Jennings, whose professional accomplishments in the NBA peaked at All-Rookie First Team in 2010.