ESPN’s Zach Lowe is a big admirer of Jayson Tatum, but last week on his Lowe Post podcast, he stated the Boston Celtics superstar is not a top-five player in the NBA. Lowe received some pushback for that and during an appearance on Get Up, he revealed the players who are in his top five.
“Look, the top four players in the league when everyone’s healthy are indisputably Luka (Doncic), (Nikola) Jokic, Giannis (Antetokounmpo), and (Joel) Embiid in some order,” Lowe said. “This year, (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander), if you just look at the MVP ballot and the First Team All-NBA voting, was No. 5.
“Well, that’s five, we’re out of five players, that’s it. That’s the top five,” Lowe continued. “Tatum is somewhere sixth, seventh, eighth, depending on your mileage with some of the other superstars in the league and that’s awesome.
“The point is, the Celtics for the first time in the playoffs, after not seeing Giannis, after not seeing Embiid, are not entering the series with the best player in the series,” Lowe stated. “And if you look at NBA history, a lot of the series at the highest level are, do you have the best guy or not. Luka is the best guy. The Celtics are going to have to overcome that. That’s all. Jayson Tatum’s amazing.”
Zach Lowe says Jayson Tatum is not a top 5 player
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I don’t believe there is any argument against Doncic, Jokic, and Antetokounmpo being in the top five. For me, those three are pretty much locks, which leaves two open spots.
If we take injuries out of the equation, then Embiid would easily get one of those spots, but I do believe availability has to count for something. If the 30-year-old is just always going to be injured when he gets to the playoffs, then it should at least hurt his case to be in the top five. Still, I suppose with Embiid having won an MVP and two scoring titles, he gets in, but I don’t hold him in the same regard as the three above.
Now, we get to Gilgeous-Alexander, and unlike Lowe, I am not completely sure I would put him over Tatum. The Oklahoma City Thunder guard is incredible, no doubt, having just finished runner-up for MVP after averaging 30.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 2.0 steals, and 0.9 blocks per game.
The reason I would give Tatum a slight edge over Gilgeous-Alexander is he has a larger body of work and had a great 2023-24 season himself. The 26-year-old averaged 26.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game for the Celtics. Tatum just about makes my top five for those reasons but I won’t have a big issue with someone bumping him down to sixth or seventh. It’s all very close.
Can Jayson Tatum And The Celtics Finally Get Over The Line In 2024?
What would probably make Tatum a top-five player in the eyes of many would be if he does finally lead the Celtics to a championship this season. They have come ever so close in recent years, but have just not been able to get over the line. Will this year be different?
Well, this is the best Celtics team since the days of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen. With Kristaps Porzingis expected to be back for Game 1 against the Dallas Mavericks, they’re at full strength as well. I think especially with his return, the Celtics have to get the edge here. Doncic is undoubtedly the best player in this series, but I believe the Celtics as a whole would manage to get the better of him.
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