2x All-Star Jayson Tatum is the future of the Boston Celtics.
At just 23-years-old, he has shown flashes of stardom, becoming Boston’s pick to be their newest franchise player.
And while Tatum is still, far and away, their best player, he has yet to live up to expectations as the next great star.
This season, he’s averaging 25 points on just 40% shooting while the Celtics sit at 9-8 on the season.
But following his 37-point performance against the Lakers, Tatum shared the confidence he feels in himself, and the moment he knew he was destined for greatness.
Jayson Tatum says when he made his first All-Star team and was sharing the locker room with LeBron and AD, it was the “first time I felt I belonged in that room.”
“From now on, whether anybody else believes it, when I get on the floor, I tell myself I’m the best player.”
Tatum is undoubtedly one of the best scorers in basketball. On that end, there’s really nothing he can’t do.
Despite all the noise about him being a ball hog or a bad teammate, it’s rare that anybody has anything bad to say about him.
“We hear a lot of things, the comparisons, etc. But at the end of the day, I want the best for him and he want the best for me. Regardless of what everyone is saying – that we can’t coexist and don’t play well together or whatever. I enjoy playing with Jayson, I really do,” said Jaylen Brown. “He’s a guy I trust out there to make plays. I know he trusts me out there as well.
Sometimes it’s not always easy to find – we started our careers together, we won a lot of games here in Boston together at an early age, which is rare and sometimes fascinating to me to see such an urgency to pitch us against each other at time.”
The Celtics are an organization enthralled in a rich and storied history. Many stars have played for the organization and countless memorable moments have been created.
The hope, for Boston, is that Tatum can help usher in a new era of success for the club. And while others may doubt his abilities, he doesn’t seem to have any questions about who he is as a player and that’s got to count for something.
