Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum is currently in the midst of quite the offseason, as he first helped lead the Celtics to the NBA championship in June, then signed the richest contract in NBA history, and now is preparing with Team USA for the upcoming Olympics. The Celtics have also brought back essentially their entire roster from a season ago, giving Tatum and his teammates a great chance of repeating as champions in the 2024-25 season.
Much has been made over the years about the duo between Tatum and Celtics teammate Jaylen Brown, who went on to win the NBA Finals MVP award for his performance vs the Dallas Mavericks. Many had speculated in previous seasons that the two were not compatible as elite teammates due to some of the overlap in their game; however, this notion was swiftly disproved in these playoffs.
Now, Tatum is opening up about his first interaction with his long-time teammate after they had become champions.
“I didn’t even get to JB until we got on the podium,” said Tatum via the 7PM in Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony podcast on YouTube. “There were so many people on the court, confetti falling, my son was there, my mom was crying, my grandma, my pops. Like pandemonium, it was crazy. I'm doing interviews. So I didn’t even get to JB until honestly he got the finals MVP trophy, and he was like yo, I couldn’t do this without JT and that’s when we shook hands, and I was just like I love you bro. That was the first time I really got to talk to him after the buzzer, because there was so much going on.”
Brown made sure to shout out Tatum in his Finals MVP speech.
What does the future hold for the Celtics?
As previously mentioned, the Celtics have brought back essentially their entire roster for the upcoming 2024-25 season, and although teams around them have gotten better, the Celtics were so dominant during this most recent postseason run that it simply might not matter.
Recently, a bit of controversy ensued in Boston when Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard withdrew from Team USA for the Olympics, opening up a roster spot that many felt should have belonged to Brown. Instead, that spot is rumored to be going to his Celtics teammate Derrick White, making it a bit odd that Brown still chose to voice his displeasure about the decision on X, the social media platform formerly referred to as Twitter.
However, outside of that one bizarre instance, the Celtics don't appear to have any long term chemistry issues, and even if Tatum and Brown aren't BFF's off of the court, it doesn't really matter as long as the team continues to produce results on it.
At this point, it would seem that the only thing truly stopping the Celtics from repeating would be injuries, as the roster is still more loaded and consistent than anyone else in the league. In any case, the 2024-25 schedule is set to be released in August.
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