Jayson Tatum still isn’t satisfied with his game
By Ty Anderson, 985TheSportsHub.com
It’s been a big year for Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum.
Breaking out as the face of the Celtics, Tatum’s efforts were enough to earn him All-NBA honors for the first time in his career, and made him the youngest player to earn such an honor in almost 70 years. He built on that with a strong postseason run inside the Orlando bubble, and signed a max-contract extension worth $195 million. He even grew two inches and added 10 pounds of muscle.
But he’s still not looking at himself as a finished product.
“Each year I want to improve,” Tatum offered this week. “I want to get better. I don’t put a ceiling on where I’m trying to get to. I want to be one of the best. I want to be one of the best to play this game.
“I want to be one of the best in the game.”
This is definitely what you want to hear after handing someone the keys to your franchise and almost $200 million.
But the 22-year-old knows that it also has to happen for the Celtics to become champions, as the 2020 playoffs exposed Tatum to countless swarms from the opposition to limit the Celtics’ chances.
“I was seeing a lot more attention, a lot more double teams, blitzing,” Tatum recalled. “I think it means I just have to elevate my playmaking ability, and make the game easier for the guys around me and get other guys involved.”
Tatum’s postseason included 25.7 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks per playoff game inside the Orlando bubble. Tatum also ranked second among Celtics in assists per game, with 5.0 per night. Those 25.7 points were the sixth-most among any playoff talent with at least 10 games played in the 2020 postseason, trailing only Denver’s Jamal Murray, the Lakers’ LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard, and Houston’s James Harden.
Imagining him getting even better, which has been a consistent theme of his press conferences, is simply music to Boston fans’ ears.
Tatum and the Celtics will wrap up their preseason Friday night against Brooklyn before beginning their 2020-21 season on Dec. 23 against the Milwaukee Bucks.
