On the cusp of a matchup against Kyrie Irving, Luka Doncic, and the Dallas Mavericks, Celtics star Jayson Tatum reflected on his failures of the past. More specifically, Tatum spoke about what he learned from the 2018-19 campaign, the last time he played with Kyrie Irving before his departure that summer.
“Being on such a talented team, I learned it’s not just talent that’s going to take you over the top,” said Tatum via Celtics beat writer Jack Simone. “We all learned from it, we all moved on. Some of us stayed here, other guys left.”
Jayson Tatum on what he learned from the 2018-19 Celtics season:
“It’s not just talent [that leads to winning]… It wasn’t just a Kyrie thing. It was all of us… I just look at that as a learning experience.” pic.twitter.com/OV9xLQhSTQ
— Jack Simone (@JackSimoneNBA) June 1, 2024
Tatum, a 5x All-Star, has been with the Celtics since 2017 and he’s led them through countless peaks and valleys. The 2018-19 campaign, which saw the Celtics get bounced in 5 games by the Bucks, is widely considered the biggest failure in Tatum’s short career thus far.
Kyrie Irving was famously a part of that Celtics team and for his part in sowing chaos behind the scenes, the 2016 champion became the popular scapegoat among critics. Tatum, who had just completed his second NBA season at the time, never fed that narrative. To this day, the 26-year-old swingman blames the collective selfishness of everyone involved for what kept the team from accomplishing their goals that season.
“You have to have guys that are willing to sacrifice, guys that are willing to do the other things in order for the team to have a chance, and it wasn’t a Kyrie thing, it was all of us. We all took part in why that season wasn’t a success,” said Tatum.
It’s hard to ignore the feeling that the Celtics left something on the table that year. Between Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward, and Al Horford, the Celtics could have become. a borderline superteam had the group managed to stay together for long enough. Instead, Tatum and Irving (an 8x All-Star) are on opposite sides fighting in the Finals for a chance to win the title.
Jayson Tatum Has A Lot Of Great Memories With Kyrie Irving As His Teammate
Even in the face of battle, Jayson Tatum showed nothing but respect to his former teammate turned enemy, Kyrie Irving. Despite the ugly manner in which Kyrie departed years ago, Tatum showed nothing but love and gratitude toward the 6’2″ point guard legend.
“Obviously it had a lot of ups and downs but being a first and second-year player, being around a superstar every day and seeing how to navigate that space.”
That’s not to mention Irving’s skills on the court. Kyrie was at his prime with the Celtics and Tatum had a front-row seat to witness his greatness. Even now, as a 5x All-Star himself, Tatum looks back with awe at what his former teammate was able to do with the ball.
“On the court, he’s one of the most talented guys I’ve ever seen,” said Jayson. “I have a lot of great memories from having [Kyrie Irving] as a teammate.”
"On the court he's one of the most talented guys I've ever seen… I have a lot of great memories from having Kai as a teammate."
– Tatum on playing with Kyrie in Boston 🤝 pic.twitter.com/8QPyVIDbIn
— NBA (@NBA) June 1, 2024
Irving averaged 24.1 points, 6.1 assists, and 4.4 rebounds per game with the Celtics but he’s been even better with the Mavericks. Since joining forces with 25-year-old Luka Doncic, Irving has avoided causing any instability and has more than fulfilled his role on the court with a stat line of 25.6 points, 5.2 assists, and 5.0 rebounds per game on 49% shooting this season.
It will be interesting to see who comes out on top in this series but it’s wild how far things have come for both sides since they first split up years ago.
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