NBA Fans Upset for Jaylen Brown After Pic of Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum on the Court

Twitter erupted on Monday night after photos showing Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant and Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum participating in an on-court workout together surfaced.

It normally wouldn't be big news for two NBA players who are friends to get some offseason work in together, but since the Celtics have been linked to a Durant trade, the circumstances are far from normal.

Durant's business manager, Rich Kleiman, told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski (h/t ESPN's Tim Bontemps) in June that KD had requested a trade out of Brooklyn.

While nothing has gotten done on that front, several teams have been linked to Durant, and the Celtics are among them.

Last month, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that the Celtics offered the Nets Jaylen Brown, Derrick White and a draft pick for Durant, however, the offer was rejected.

The fan reaction to the photo of Durant and Tatum primarily focused on Brown, with both serious and comedic tweets about how he may have reacted to seeing the photos:

As is always the case on social media, the GIFs, photos and videos rolled in as part of the reaction as well:

At 33 years of age, Durant is still one of the NBA's top players. He averaged 29.9 points per game last season.

He also has a Hall of Fame resume to his credit with 12 All-Star nods, four scoring titles, two NBA championships, two NBA Finals MVP awards and one NBA MVP award.

KD was the missing piece to the puzzle that helped the Golden State Warriors win two more championships in the past, and it is fair to wonder if he could serve a similar purpose for a Celtics team that reached the NBA Finals last season before falling to the Warriors.

Tatum is Boston's unquestioned top star after averaging 26.9 points per game during the 2021-22 regular season and 25.6 points during the playoffs, but Brown was integral to the team's success as well.

The one-time All-Star put up 23.6 points per contest in 66 regular-season games last season, plus 23.1 points per game during the postseason.

He is also just 25 years of age, which suggests he may still have plenty of growing and developing left to do.

Trading Brown for anyone would be a risky endeavor because of his potential to become an MVP-caliber player, but if the Celtics can land Durant and make a strong run at a championship, it could be worth it.

Durant and Tatum were teammates on the 2020 United States men's basketball Olympic team, so Monday's photos may be much ado about nothing. However, that won't stop speculation from running rampant.