There were a lot of statements that Jayson Tatum launched against those who doubted the Boston Celtics throughout his whole tenure. After he and the rest of the Jaylen Brown-led squad dismantled these claims by winning the NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks, greener pastures were set for him like joining Team USA for the Paris Olympics. Before embarking on the challenge of international play alongside Jrue Holiday, he had one final and stern message for those naysayers.
Jayson Tatum helped the Celtics ravage the rest of the league by winning the NBA Finals in five games. If this was not enough, he also led the team in total points, rebounds, and assists. This was such that they got over the mountaintop of immortality. The nail in the coffin was that Brad Stevens and the rest of the front office entrusted him to stay with the franchise. As a result, he got an extension up to 2030 which is valued at around $314 million.
Jayson Tatum claps back
Despite all of this and getting picked up for Team USA duties in the Olympics, the Celtics superstar is still receiving a lot of vitriol. Some were saying that he got carried by Jaylen Brown. Meanwhile, others posit that he did not deserve the contract that was given to him at all.
He finally addressed all of this in his latest statement during his arrival at Team USA's training camp for the Olympics, via Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe.
“There are still a lot of things I guess they can debate, but I’ve done some things they can’t debate. I won a championship. I did it at the highest level. So having that under my belt, like, obviously there’s still conversations to be had or whatever people want to say. But, they’ve always got to refer to me as an NBA champion,” Jayson Tatum declared.
How has he been in the Celtics system?
It's very safe to say that Tatum has been a cornerstone in the team's rebuild. He has been instrumental alongside Jaylen Brown, Brad Stevens, and Al Horford. Throughout his first seven years with the Celtics, he has notched a lot of accomplishments. Some of them are even accolades that all-time greats have achieved. His accolades include being a 5-time All-Star, 4-time All-NBA selection, and an Eastern Conference Finals Most Valuable Player.
Not to mention, Tatum has put in all the effort to be one of the most well-rounded players in league history. He is averaging 23 points a night since his rookie year. What made it more impressive? He knocks down his shots with an astounding 46% clip from all three levels of scoring. The Celtics have also been benefitting from his increased playmaking chops. This got him 4.9 assists in the last season which bumped his career average to 3.5 assists.
On the defensive end, Tatum cleans up the board well by averaging 7.2 total rebounds. His insane acumen for knowing when there are passing lanes that need to be clogged up has also netted him a steal per game. There is not much else that Tatum can do to prove that he is one of the best Celtics. Hopefully, he wins the Olympics with Team USA to complete what looks like one of the best careers in basketball.
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