In a chat with the media before Game 4, Celtics swingman Jayson Tatum had some interesting things to say about his team’s current post-season run. In response to the Celtics’ potentially finishing with an 80-20 through the regular-season and playoffs combined, he explained that many fans and critics probably won’t count it anyways.
“I didn’t know that, that would be really cool,” said Tatum. “You guys would probably say we didn’t play anybody to get here. So we just gotta do it again next year.”
Jayson Tatum really dropped the mic with this one… 😶 pic.twitter.com/PkMfrv6g54
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) June 13, 2024
This isn’t some random comment by the 5x All-Star. Throughout this postseason, it’s been popular to discredit the Celtics’ run due to the level of competition they faced in the East.
In the first round, the Celtics went against the Miami Heat who were without 6x All-Star Jimmy Butler. They had practically no chance to win the series without their best two-way player and the Celtics would have been heavily favored to win whether he was there or not.
After winning in five, the Celtics moved on to face the Cavaliers, who went 48-34 in the regular season. While the Cavs looked like a strong challenger initially, the injuries to Jarret Allen and Donovan Mitchell gave the Celtics easy wins for the final few games.
The matchup in the Eastern Conference Finals was against the 6th-seeded Indiana Pacers, who managed to beat a hobbled Bucks team and a broken Knicks team in the first two rounds. Outmatched at nearly every position, the Pacers were always a longshot to win and in the end, they failed to steal even a single game in the series.
Even in the Finals, the Celtics are fortunate to face a Mavericks team that’s mostly inexperienced at this level of the bracket. The role-players who dominated the first three rounds are no longer effective on the court and it has put all the pressure on Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving to carry their team to a win.
As a young star who has been here before, Tatum (the third overall pick in 2017) is ready to close the deal on his first championship and he doesn’t particularly care what the people have to say. His team is 15-2 leading up to Friday’s matchup and they have a chance to make history by keeping the streak going.
Jaylen Brown Recalls His First Memory Of Jayson Tatum
As one of the league’s top young stars, Jayson Tatum (who is averaging 17.0 points per game in the series) deserves credit for taking care of business in this postseason but not even he can do it alone. His teammate and co-star Jaylen Brown has been within every step of the way and they are on the verge of reaching ultimate success.
During his chat with the media, Brown looked back on his first time hearing about the former Duke prospect.
“Danny [Ainge] called me and asked me how I feel about Jayson Tatum. I remember I played with him at top-100 camps. He was my roommate at league camp, the Under Armour all-American game we were roommates again. So I had a lot of experience with him and a lot of respect so I said ‘It’s a great choice.'”
Jaylen Brown recalls when Danny Ainge asked him how he felt about a prospect… the prospect was Jayson Tatum 👀 pic.twitter.com/GtrxG6AusE
— NBA (@NBA) June 13, 2024
Almost a decade later, it’s safe to say that Brown does not regret those words. He and Tatum have brought the Celtics back to dominance in the East and they are about to mark their place in history as NBA champions.
While plenty of doubters and haters have tried to drive a wedge between the pair, I think their bond is good enough to last forever. At just 26 and 27, respectively, Tatum and Brown are here to stay and they still have plenty of time to keep the success rolling.
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