The Boston Celtics entered the 2022-23 season highly motivated after they fell ever so short of the Larry O'Brien trophy in the 2022 NBA Finals. Surely enough, it seems as if Celtics talisman Jayson Tatum entered the season with something to prove, ascending a level where he could perhaps even challenge for the coveted Most Valuable Player trophy award.
In the Celtics' 123-119 win over the Chicago Bulls on Friday night, Tatum dropped 36 points, 12 rebounds, and 6 assists, outdueling fellow All-Star DeMar DeRozan who put up an insane 46 points in a losing effort. In the process, Tatum became only the second player in franchise history to put up an average of 30 points per night through the first eight games of the season, per ESPN Stats & Info.
Tatum joined Celtics great Larry Bird in doing so, who also achieved the feat during the 1984-85 season.
Jayson Tatum is the 2nd player in Celtics history to average 30 points through his first 8 games of a season, joining Larry Bird in 1984-85. pic.twitter.com/counoLUgvS
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) November 5, 2022
For the uninitiated, Larry Legend won the second of his three consecutive MVP awards during the ‘84-'85 campaign. Bird ended up finishing the season with absurd averages of 28.7 points, 10.5 boards, and 6.6 dimes per night on an insane 52 percent shooting from the field and 42 percent from beyond the arc.
Meanwhile, Jayson Tatum hasn't been too shabby himself either. Amidst the Celtics' 5-3 start, Tatum has averaged 30.9 points, 8.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game on an efficient 50.3 percent field goal percentage (36.8 percent from deep on 8.3 attempts a night).
While it's still way too early to determine who the leading candidate is for the biggest individual accolade in the league, Tatum's name should be right up there with the likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo, undisputed best player of the only undefeated team left in the NBA, Luka Doncic, who has put up gaudy scoring lines much like Tatum to begin the year, and Donovan Mitchell, chief catalyst of the Cleveland Cavaliers' torrid start.
At the end of the day, however, Jayson Tatum and the rest of the Celtics will have their eyes dead set on the NBA championship. As his running mate Jaylen Brown revealed over the offseason, their finals defeat to the Golden State Warriors stung beyond measure, and it fuels them to match the level the Warriors displayed having discovered firsthand what it takes to win it all.
And with Tatum locked and loaded, determined to prevent the Celtics from repeating last year's mediocre start to the season, Celtics fans will be excited just how high the 24-year old small forward could soar – perhaps even as lofty as adding an MVP award to his trophy case.
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