Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum is currently in the middle of a great offseason, as he first helped guide the Celtics to the NBA championship in June, then signed the most lucrative contract in NBA history earlier this month, and now is preparing with Team USA in Las Vegas for the upcoming Olympics from Paris. The Celtics have also retained basically their entire roster from a season ago, giving Tatum and his teammates a great chance of repeating as champions when the 2024-25 season gets underway.
One common criticism that has been leveled at Tatum throughout his career has regarded his laid back personality, with some wondering whether he would have the necessary fire to be a leader on the court for his Celtics teammates during tough moments in the playoffs.
Recently, Tatum took to Carmelo Anthony's 7PM in Brooklyn Podcast to discuss his thoughts.
” I see it all the time like he's not demonstrative enough, he doesn't yell enough, he's not as loud as the other guys that we like watching,” said Tatum. “Part of it is like I'm who I am, like I've always been a laid back person. I'm not the loudest person in the room but it was frustrating because it's like I feel like some people would take that and take jabs at my game.”
Tatum also broke down how he simply doesn't have the desire to be as demonstrative as other players, including a Celtics legend.
“The game and me yelling ain't got nothing to do with it and I get like, I'm nothing like Kevin Garnett, I used to love watching KG play,” said Tatum. “I like this s–t talking but sometimes that's just not, that's not who I am. I'm never gonna be somebody that I'm not, but like you said there is a different feeling of like, I always felt like I was one of the best or the best player in the league, especially the last couple years but it was always a debate. But now it's like, yo, no f–k that, I just won, I did what y'all said I could not do, so yeah I'm not in that same conversation no more, I'm in a different room, I’ve done the things that only a few people have ever done.”
If it ain't broke, don't fix it
ESPN mic'd up segments often showed that it was Celtics star and eventual Finals MVP Jaylen Brown and not Tatum who took on more of a vocal leadership role with his teammates, which is perfectly fine as long as the team is producing results.
We've seen many stars, like Kawhi Leonard and Tim Duncan to name a couple, who have been the best players on championship teams while maintaining a stoic demeanor and leaving the fiery intensity to others. Tatum appears to have adopted a similar approach, although he is more than capable of showing some passion when the moment calls for it.
In any case, the 2024-25 NBA schedule will be released in August.
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