Through roughly the first quarter of his first year, Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum has displayed much promising play on the court.
Much of that lies with his scoring prowess quickly emerging as one of the top offensive contributors from his rookie class. Tatum has accredited that skill set to shaping his game to two of the league's best scorers at his position.
Kobe was Jayson Tatum's favorite player growing up.
When he hit high school, he started to model his game after two others. pic.twitter.com/MmCLL9x01X
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 21, 2017
Carmelo Anthony and Paul George have established themselves as two of the premier players in the NBA over the last several years. Anthony's play has tapered off over the last few years due to his age and injuries, but he is still regarded one of the best pure scorers that the league has seen in quite some time.
Meanwhile, George is the midst of his career and has further honed his offensive repertoire over the last few seasons. These are two strong sources of influence for Tatum to follow given that he has shown to have a similar type of offensive ability and impact on the game.
The 19-year-old has started all 34 games so far this season averaging 13.8 points on 50.6 percent shooting from the field and is second in the league at 50.5 percent from beyond the arc. His 468 points through that span are the fourth most for a rookie in Celtics history, only trailing Paul Pierce (482), David Cowens (574), and Larry Bird (673).
Beyond his strong start, it is clear that Tatum has a bright future ahead of him with the potential to become one of the rising stars in the league and a centerpiece for the Celtics over the next decade.
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