Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics got a chance to visit an old friend in Charlotte.
Ex-Celtics forward Grant Williams was sent to the Charlotte Hornets by the Dallas Mavericks ahead of the 2024 NBA trade deadline. He took on the C's for the first time as a member of the Hornets on Monday night.
Still close friends, Tatum and Williams shared an embrace before tip-off:
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From there, it was all trash-talk between the ex-teammates. The two were seen chirping at one another throughout the game, though it was Tatum who got the last laugh with a 118-104 Celtics victory.
After the win, Tatum was asked how it felt going up against Williams.
"It was good," Tatum said. "That's my brother for life. So always good to see him, good to compete against him. So yeah, just having fun out there competing against each other."
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Unsurprisingly, Williams did most of the trash-talking on Monday. He backed it up with 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting while notching seven rebounds and two assists.
"Grant always got some (expletive) to say," Tatum added. "But I just said, that's my brother for life. And it's cool, I don't talk trash at all but if it's somebody I'm close with -- like today, Grant -- I like to have fun out there. It's always good to see him, compete against him, so we just had some fun out there."
Tatum, who has dominated in Charlotte over the last couple of years, finished with 25 points (9-19 FG), 10 rebounds, four assists, two steals, and a block. He'll need to step up again in a tough Wednesday night showdown with the Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder.
You can watch Tatum's full postgame press conference below or on YouTube: