On Thursday, the NBA world received a jolt when Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum was upgraded to questionable for the team's upcoming game against the Dallas Mavericks. Tatum has yet to play this season as he recovers from a torn Achilles suffered in last year's playoffs, and if he were to play on Friday, it would be one of the quickest recoveries the league has ever seen.
Recently, NBA legend Carmelo Anthony took to the 7pm in Brooklyn podcast to describe how he thinks Tatum should approach his return, now that Jaylen Brown has taken over as the leader of the team this year.
“Now it’s like JT, what are you going to sacrifice? But now I held the fort down for you and the whole organization. JT has to be very mature about this situation. It’s no ego, no pride. We got a chance to come back and win a championship. So let me just put my pride and ego aside for these next 3 months and continue to let JB steer the ship,” said Anthony.
One person who is not on board with those comments is Tatum's trainer, Drew Hanlen.
“The irony of Carmelo Anthony trying to tell Jayson Tatum how to win…” wrote Hanlen on X, formerly Twitter.
Indeed, Tatum already has a far more accomplished postseason resume than what Anthony was able to accomplish in his career, although they were of course drafted into vastly different situations.
Ironically enough, Anthony's ego was largely viewed as a negative trait throughout his career, as his tendency to dominate the ball in a halfcourt setting often came at the expense of his teammates getting shots.
Still, there will understandably be an adjustment period for the Celtics as Tatum takes the court, and it will be interesting to see how Brown's usage is affected by the return.
The Mavericks and Celtics are slated to tip off on Friday at 7:00 pm ET.
