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Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics find themselves in the NBA Finals for the second time in three seasons, setting the stage for a showdown against the Dallas Mavericks’ formidable backcourt of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Veteran sports analyst Stephen A. Smith issued a challenge on Tatum, suggesting that he has the most to lose in this series.
“He doesn’t necessarily have to win the championship, if he plays spectacularly well but Boston manages to lose because Dallas has two superstars that show up and play sensational as well, then there’s no shame in that,” Smith emphasized during ESPN’s First Take.
Celtics cannot lose with Jayson Tatum as the cause
“What can’t happen with Jayson Tatum is that a: Boston loses, and b: he’s the biggest reason why, that would be disastrous,” Smith furthered.
“He can’t emulate his performance from the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors, that’s unacceptable. Jaylen Brown was a better player than Jayson Tatum was in that finals, that can’t happen again.”
Although Smith seems to be disregarding the fact that Luka Doncic also faced challenges against the same opponents. In the 2022 Western Conference finals, Dallas lost 4-1. Had Doncic performed better, it could have resulted in a Celtics-Mavericks championship matchup.
Throughout the Celtics' journey to the finals, Tatum played a pivotal role, posting impressive numbers of 30.3 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 6.3 assists per game during the 4-0 series win against the Pacers.
However, he found himself overshadowed in the race for Eastern Conference Finals MVP, as the honor ultimately went to his teammate Jaylen Brown, who averaged 29.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game.
Stephen A. Smith's challenge to Jayson Tatum
“He’s two years older, he’s 26 now. He’s on his fifth or sixth conference final, this is his second NBA Finals. He’s a first team All-NBA. Him and Luka [Doncic] being first team NBA, it’s only the second time in history, two first-time All-NBA players looking for their first NBA championship are playing against one another,” Smith addee.
“So we look at all those numbers, we recognize those statistics and we add to that the elevation that we’ve seen from Jayson Tatum, he is a bonafide star in this league. Got a whole bunch of commercials, endorsement deals etc. destined to get a $300 million-plus contract and you're wearing a Boston Celtics uniform, but you don't have a championship to show for it, they can't look at you and say you're the reason why.”
Jayson Tatum and Luka Doncic have experienced both success and failure on the biggest stage of their careers. Despite the Mavericks showcasing resilience by defying the odds to reach the Finals, Boston has arguably been the league's top team throughout the entire season and is fully prepared for this seven-game series.
Smith also warns of the difficulty for Tatum to recover if the Celtics lose this finals series, “If that happens it will be very difficult, wouldn’t be impossible but it will be very very difficult for him to recover from that. He has to make sure he plays spectacularly well, otherwise, he’s gonna hear about it for years and years to come.”
