Celtics star Jayson Tatum is feeling confident going into the 2024-25 campaign. After leading the Celtics to his first championship at 26 years old, Tatum believes he’s outpacing NBA legends like LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Michael Jordan when they were his age in the league.
“I think a lot of people are like, ‘Oh, he’s out for revenge. I don’t think Jayson looks at it like that. He’s like, ‘Compare my résumé at 27 to Michael Jordan, who never won one at 27. Compare it to LeBron, who had won one. Compare it to Steph, who had one,” said coach Hanlen on Tatum in a chat with ESPN.
There is no question that Tatum is one of the NBA’s best players today but when you talk All-time, his resume just doesn’t hold up to that of LeBron, Michael, or Steph Curry when they were 27 and just starting their prime.
– Michael Jordan: 1x MVP, 1x DPOY, 5x All-NBA
– LeBron James: 3x MVP, 1x FMVP, 8x All-NBA
– Steph Curry: 2x MVP (only ever unanimous)
– Jayson Tatum: 4x All-NBA
As the 3rd overall pick in 2017, expectations have been high for Tatum from the very start. Since coming together, he and his co-star, Jaylen Brown, have been tasked with leading the Celtics to prosperity in the East and that’s exactly what they’ve done.
Last season, after securing the best record in the NBA, they won all four rounds of the playoffs to win their first championship since 2008. Just a few weeks removed from the victory, Tatum joined his fellow basketball stars in the Olympics, where he suited up for Team USA to win the gold medal.
Despite some controversy over his playing time, Tatum enjoyed his experience winning the gold and it made the perfect transition into this upcoming season, where the Celtics are once again favored to win it all.
While Tatum has every right to be confident in his superstar status, he may have gone a step too far by comparing himself with Michael Jordan and LeBron James. At Tatum’s age, Michael was already a 1x MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, and 5x All-NBA player. LeBron James was a 3x MVP, 1x Finals MVP, and 8x All-NBA player. Even Stephen Curry had some hardware at this point with a championship and two unanimous MVPs.
Unlike Tatum, LeBron and Michael didn’t always have a stacked roster to back him up on every play. It took many years to get their teams in a championship position, whereas Tatum was lucky enough to be drafted by one of the most successful and brilliantly run organizations in sports.
While you have to give Tatum credit for getting the job done and taking care of business, he still has a lot to prove before anyone’s ready to rank him with the All-Time greats. Plus, with two playoff upset losses under his belt, the case can be made that JT has left some rings on the table in his 7-year NBA stint.
The good news is, with mostly the same roster returning, the Celtics are set to make a strong title defense and it could be Tatum’s best season yet as he enters his athletic prime. But if he wants to be considered in the same breath as his idols, Jayson will need to turn it up on the court and start adding more accolades to his record, such as championships, MVPs, Finals MVPs, and All-NBA team selections.
Unfortunately for Tatum, chasing Michael or LeBron may already be out of the question given the gap in skill and achievement but he still has a chance to find more success with the Celtics. Thanks to smart team building, the Cs will be a threat for many years to come and if Tatum can just stay healthy, he should be able to enjoy the prosperity for as long as it lasts.
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