Jaylen Brown's 'Validation?', Jayson Tatum's return, and are the Celtics contenders?

Locked On Celtics - Daily Podcast On The Boston Celtics

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4.7 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 21 January 2026

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Jaylen Brown earns an All-Star starting nod, but is "validation" really the right word? John Karalis of Celtics on SI digs into Brown’s evolution with the Boston Celtics, what this milestone means for the team’s dynamic with Jayson Tatum, and why the “Jayson vs. Jaylen” debate needs to end. The conversation spotlights Brown’s mentality, the chemistry with coach Joe Mazzulla, and how both stars position themselves for postseason success. Attention turns to Jayson Tatum’s highly anticipated comeback, analyzing his latest on-court workout and the crucial steps remaining before his return. Can the Celtics truly contend for a championship without major moves, or will reinforcements at center be essential for a deep playoff push? Karalis breaks down the Eastern Conference landscape, possible trade scenarios involving players like Anfernee Simons and Sam Hauser, and what Brad Stevens might be “cooking” ahead of the NBA trade deadline.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Validation is the wrong for a syllable word for Jalen Brown getting named starter at the All-Star game.
0:06.0	Plus, can the Celtics really contend it's all right now on the Lockdown Celtics podcast?
0:10.3	Locked on Celtics pod home of the winners, baby.
0:14.4	Yeah, welcome back to the Lockdown Celtics podcast right here in the Lockdown Podcast Network.
0:18.2	Where does your team every day?
0:19.8	Your team is the Boston Celtics. I talk about them Monday through Friday, bonus podcasts. When they play in the weekend, like this weekend, Friday and Saturday nights, you get podcasts all week long, all weekend long, all next week. So make sure you're subscribed. Wherever get your podcast, you can watch a show on YouTube. And join me, John Corrales, Beatwriter for SI, covering the Celtics for the Celtics
0:40.4	on SI page.
0:41.7	I've been covering the Celtics for about 20 years now.
0:44.2	I've been doing this podcast for 10 and I've written a couple books about this team.
0:47.0	This podcast today is brought to you by Fandul.
0:50.0	Join the Fandul app.
0:51.8	Open it up 6 to 7.30 p.m. on Fridays to see what's dropping at NBA happy hour only on the Fandual app.
0:58.8	Today we're talking about a couple of leftovers from the road trip here,
1:04.9	which really this road trip is just continuing.
1:07.7	They come home like this game against the Pacers on Wednesday,
1:12.3	it's just an extension of the road trip. He went to Indy, Miami, where else, Atlanta,
1:20.7	Detroit, Boston, Brooklyn. Like, this is, this is basically you go home, drop your stuff off.
1:26.1	It's an extension of the road trip.
1:27.9	But we'll talk about later on, we'll get into whether the SELICs can truly contend
1:32.4	through the second seat in the east.
1:35.0	That game against the Pistons shows that that would be an incredible series.
1:39.0	Can the Celtics actually contend for a championship?
	...

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