Boston Celtics

LeBron James picks Jaylen ‘Under-Appreciated’ Brown for All-Star team, Jayson Tatum will play with Bradley Beal

Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum will not play on the same All-Star team.

LeBron James chose Jaylen Brown for his All-Star team. Matthew J. Lee/Globe staff

Related Links

LeBron James and Jaylen Brown have had a lot of battles over the years, and Brown even threw down a big two-handed dunk over James last year.

James, it seems, has gained respect for Brown — respect he feels others might lack. On Thursday, James and Kevin Durant picked their All-Star teams on TNT. In the middle of the reserve round, James selected Brown.

“I’ll take Jaylen ‘Under-Appreciated’ Brown,” James said, as Durant nodded approvingly.

Brown will not play on the same team as his teammate Jayson Tatum, who was selected by Durant. Tatum joins his friend Bradley Beal in the starting lineup — something he said he hoped would happen. Tatum and Beal grew up together in St. Louis, but while they both attended the same high school, they never played on the same roster.

Advertisement:

“I’ve never in organized basketball played on the same team with him,” Tatum said. “So that’d be special for us if we can. I mean it’s going to be our first All-Star game together but hopefully, we’ll be on the same team.”

Brown is averaging 24.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per game this season. Tatum is averaging 24.9 points and 6.9 rebounds.

The All-Star game tips off at 8 p.m. on Sunday.

Get Boston.com's browser alerts:

Enable breaking news notifications straight to your internet browser.

To comment, please create a screen name in your profile

Conversation

This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com