While the massive injury bug continues to bite the Boston Celtics throughout the 2017-18 NBA season, rising star rookie small forward Jayson Tatum has been with the team every step of the way and has played in all 78 of their games so far. With each passing day, the 20-year-old Tatum is just getting better and better.
According to a recent interview between Celtics backup guard Shane Larkin and Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype, Tatum received the utmost amount of praise from his Boston teammate.
Larkin even believes that Tatum will eventually become a Top 5 player in the NBA at the rate he continues to improve his game.
“If he continues to grow the way he’s growing now, I don’t even know what his ceiling is. He can handle the ball, shoot the three, defend, and he’s 6’9 at 20 years old. He may not even be done growing! He has all of the tools to be one of the Top 5 players in this league and I wholeheartedly believe that,” Larkin said of Tatum.
When it comes to Tatum's attitude on and off the court, Larkin simply can't help but be extremely impressed with him.
“I call him a young bull because he’s very aggressive,” Larkin added. “And he wants to be great. The only advice I’ve given him is just to remain patient. He sees some of the other rookies who get to go shoot 20-to-25 times a night or some of the rookies who have the ball every single time down the court, but when he’s in the situation he’s currently in [he doesn’t get to do that].”
With superstar point guard Kyrie Irving done for the rest of the regular season and playoffs, Tatum will certainly have his hands full but will also have a great opportunity to show how good he really is. In 78 starts this season for the 53-25 Celtics, Tatum has averaged 13.9 points (47.5 percent shooting from the floor) and 5.1 rebounds per game.
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