If you want to take a look at any rookie who came into the season with the mindset to work hard and improve every day to see the results, Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum is your guy.
He's not in the current Rookie of the Year conversation although he should be a top candidate regardless.
The Celtics forward came into the league as the third pick in the 2017 NBA Draft projected to be a solid player who needed to strengthen up and improve his 3-point shot.
By season's end, Tatum had averaged 13.9 points, five rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game. He had helped the Celtics to a 55-27 record through injuries suffered by multiple teammates including superstar Kyrie Irving while remaining solid and consistent the entire year.
It is impressive how well he has played, so there is no surprise to know that Tatum is also the first rookie to earn a double-double in his first NBA game and his first NBA Playoff game.
Via @EliasSports, Jayson Tatum is the first Celtics rookie ever to record a double-double in his first career regular season game and his first career playoff game
— Celtics Stats (@celtics_stats) April 17, 2018
Head Coach Brad Stevens, who is known as one of the game's most brilliant minds, couldn't help but be impressed by the effort given by his rookie and gave praise to Tatum for the work he puts on the basketball court on both sides of the ball calling him savvy and mature beyond his age.
Tatum was expected to play 20-25 minutes from the bench this year but was thrust into his current role when Gordon Hayward went down with a leg injury in the first game of the season, but due to the 20-year-old's prowess, there was no drop off for the Celtics.
Instead, the young forward has played over 2400 minutes this season, leading all rookies but Donovan Mitchell and stepped up his scoring average to 17.3 points per game after losing Irving to injury in 30 minutes of play.
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