Jaylen Brown’s lack of response to Jayson Tatum’s pregame greeting in Philadelphia did not go unnoticed by Charles Barkley.

Tuesday’s game was the first time the former Boston Celtics teammates had faced each other since an offseason trade sent Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers. The Celtics rolled to a 123-101 win, but the brief exchange before the opening tip drew plenty of attention.

By the next night, Barkley was still talking about it as Boston moved on to face the Toronto Raptors.

Charles Barkley Calls Out Jaylen Brown and Sides With Jayson Tatum

The tension had been building for weeks. In late October, Tatum dismissed talk of a rift by saying there was “no beef” between them.

Brown agreed the following night, but added that there might be some “lamb chops and gravy,” a line he repeated several times while discussing their relationship.

Weeks of chatter about the state of their relationship hung over the starters’ usual round of handshakes and hugs before tip-off. Brown had a ball spinning on his finger when Tatum reached him, and a tap on the chest from the Celtics star drew no response. Tatum moved on to a hug with LeBron James, now Brown’s teammate in Philadelphia.

The former Boston star addressed the interaction after the game.

“I’m just focused on doing what’s best for my team. Everything else, to be honest, I wasn’t paying attention. But credit to Jayson. He played well tonight. Credit to the Celtics. They executed. They shot the hell out of the ball, and they were the better team tonight.”

Barkley put the moment squarely on Brown.

“I was disappointed in Jaylen Brown. I mean, just like, give the man a hug,” the former NBA MVP said.

“Shams [Charania] said it — they’ve been together for double-digit years, they won a championship together. You see Jayson is trying to squash the lamb chops, beef, whatever it is. But I was disappointed in Jaylen Brown.”

The following night, while Boston faced Toronto, the Hall of Famer made his support for Tatum even clearer:

“Jayson Tatum’s back, y’all.”

Then came another reference to the Philadelphia exchange: “Come to my house Jayson, I’ll shake your hand.”

Tatum had already downplayed the moment when asked about it after the 76ers game.

“No headlines about anything like that. I was just getting ready for the game, ready for jump ball, go out there, compete, have some fun and try to get a win,” the 2022 Eastern Conference Finals MVP said.

The Boston forward finished with 21 points in 32 minutes as the Celtics led by as many as 29 and cruised through the fourth quarter.

Payton Pritchard offered his own perspective on Tatum’s response to the situation.

“He didn’t change his demeanor. He went about it regularly. That can be tough, especially with how many emotions there are, and I think he did a great job tonight. Went out and got us a win,” the backup point guard said.

Tatum was back on the floor less than 24 hours after the Philadelphia game on the second night of a back-to-back. He played just under 38 minutes and scored a game-high 24 points as Boston erased a 22-point deficit to beat the Raptors 98-93.