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Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum has once again reiterated his disappointment about not making it to any All-NBA team despite his numbers, but contrary to popular belief, it's not because of the money he lost.
For those unaware, Tatum missed out on a $33 million boost on his contract for failing to make even one of the three All-NBA teams for the 2020-21 season. It basically meant the Celtics swingman was not voted as one of the Top 15 players in the league, though his ranking had been largely affected by the fact that players were voted per position as a guard or forward.
Tatum was categorized among forwards because that's the position where he got the most votes, but he had more votes than Kyrie Irving who made it to the All-NBA Third Team as a guard.
Considering the massive snub, the Celtics star admitted that he's “mad” about it. After all, he believes he had a better campaign compared to the previous one when he made it to the Third Team.
“Yeah, I was mad about it and it had nothing to do with the money,” Jayson Tatum said, per Boston Globe. “I just felt like I increased my assists, my points, my rebounds, I clearly had a better season this year than last season. With COVID and how it affected our team, I guess people held that against me. I clearly should have made one of those teams but it will happen, but just get better for next year. How could you watch my game and the season I had and think I wasn’t one of the best 15 players?”
It's hard to argue with Tatum's remarks, though. Besides, there is no doubt he is one of the biggest snubs in the said recognition given his rise as the Celtics' true No. 1 option.
Unfortunately, he is a victim of an archaic role that categorizes players per position despite the fact that the modern NBA emphasizes positional versatility. Hopefully, this will only fuel the Celtics youngster to establish himself a Top 5 or 10 player in the NBA.
