Jayson Tatum has revealed his perspective on which players are the greatest of all time in NBA history while talking to Andre Iguodala and Evan Turner on the Point Forward podcast. The first name Tatum dropped was Michael Jordan, which indicates where he stands in the GOAT debate, but his top six includes two currently active players.
(Starts at 1:05:57)
“Mike, Bron, Kobe. That’s tough, I wanna say Kareem but I never saw Kareem play. But I respect what he did. So, Mike, Bron, Kobe, Kareem, Magic, and Steph.”
.@jaytatum0 names his All Time Top NBA players. Did JT get it right?? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/ELI9jjggAw
— Point Forward (@pointforward) December 6, 2023
Tatum going for Jordan first and then LeBron James is not surprising, but something James will likely not be happy with as he tries to take the GOAT mantle from Jordan. Kobe Bryant ahead of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is something people could disagree with, but Tatum is arguably one of the biggest Kobe disciples in the NBA right now and he was going to respect the man he idolizes by not putting him lower than third.
Stephen Curry was picked after Magic Johnson, showing where Tatum possibly stands in the debate for the greatest point guard. The absence of Celtics legend Larry Bird from the list is noticeable and has upset some Celtics fans online, but it’s clear that Tatum stays authentic to himself.
He named multiple Lakers legends, a player that has openly said he hates Boston, and a player that beat him in the 2022 Finals. It’s clear that Tatum is being himself right now and doesn’t care about pushing agendas, which is a refreshing thing to see from a player in an interview.
Jayson Tatum Pushing To Enter All-Time Conversations
Out of all the modern young players, it looks like Jayson Tatum may be the one with the best chance to enter all-time status. Outside of the likes of LeBron, Curry, and Kevin Durant, most players in the league are still trying to establish their cases to be considered among the greatest in league history. Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo are on their way there with their two MVPs and a championship, but Tatum may be the best equipped to follow their achievements and possibly surpass them.
Tatum is among the candidates for MVP this season and is on a stacked Boston Celtics team. He’s had a title contender every year since he got drafted, outside maybe the 2020-21 season. Other than that, the Celtics have aggressively pushed to win a title and have failed to do so. This year’s team is arguably the best they’ve put together in the Tatum era, putting heavy pressure on him to deliver.
Tatum is averaging xx this season. He’s led the Celtics to multiple Conference Finals and one NBA Finals, so if he can finally put his tools together, he can start winning titles with the team he’s on. Other stars around the NBA like Luka Doncic can’t claim to have a roster like Tatum’s, so Tatum’s team success may lead to him being regarded as an all-time player in a few seasons.
On the flip side, if Tatum continues to fail to win a title on this Celtics team, people will be quick to discredit him. Many players fail to win titles because their teams never got good enough, prompting them to leave and ring chase, much to the chagrin of fans. Tatum won’t be able to say he had a bad team, so he needs to deliver a title to Boston as soon as possible if he wants to be an all-time great.
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