Is Jayson Tatum the best player in the Eastern Conference?
The defending champion Boston Celtics sit solely in second place in the Eastern Conference at 19-5 through the team’s first 24 games. Boston has lived up to their lofty expectations through the early part of the season continuing to build on what they accomplished last season. Boston is led by 26-year-old Jayson Tatum who continues to build one of the most impressive resumes in NBA history. At only 26, Tatum is already a 4x First team All-NBA player, 5x All-Star, and an NBA Champion. Even with this impressive resume Tatum somehow continues to improve every year.
Many Celtics fans believe Tatum has a legitimate shot to be the league MVP this year. While he is having an incredible season, Nikola Jokic is still on a different planet, putting up stat lines like 56-16 over the weekend. For Tatum to win the MVP it will take an otherworldly effort, so for now he might just have to settle for being the best player in the Eastern Conference.
The battle for the best player in the Eastern Conference is a two horse race between Tatum and Giannis. The Milwaukee Bucks superstar is having another incredible year averaging 32.5 points, 11.6 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game. While Tatum this season is averaging 28.2 points, 8.9 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game. Some will just look at the numbers and immediately think Giannis should be considered the best player in the Conference, however I think debate goes a little further than that.
Calling Giannis a one-man show in Milwaukee is unfair to Damian Lillard, but Giannis is without question asked to do more on a nightly basis than Tatum. You could argue this leads to his better numbers. Is being asked to do more proof you are more valuable to your team? Than someone who doesn’t have to do as much on a nightly basis for his team to win games?
That’s where the conversation gets interesting, the Celtics have the best roster in the league by far and at times it feels like Tatum is penalized for this. Tatum’s co-star, Jaylen Brown, is one of the best players in the league on both ends and is coming off an NBA Finals MVP. Not to mention Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford are all above average to all-star caliber NBA players.
Tatum is the best player in the Eastern Conference, but it’s not by a wide margin. Tatum is a better play-maker than Giannis, a better shooter, and makes his teammates better more regularly than Giannis. Tatum also plays elite defense 1-5 and often plays out of position to benefit the Celtics as he did the team’s entire playoff run last season enroute to the NBA Championship.
Watching the two go head-to-head last week in one of the best games of the early NBA season, Giannis made some really boneheaded mistakes down the stretch. While it’s only one game, it speaks to how much pressure is on Giannis on a nightly basis and how comfortable Tatum is relying on his teammates to get him over the hump. So the argument that Giannis is more valuable to his team because of the roster around him is a legitimate case, but Tatum is the better all-around player because of what he does on a nightly basis on both ends of the floor. Tatum is the definition of a complete player as the only one in the NBA leading his team in points, rebounds, assists, steals and 3-pointers per game.
I’m sure Bucks fans will take issue with this take as Giannis has a ring and an MVP, but at this point in time Tatum is a more complete player and his continual ascension at only 26 has him primed to be the best player in the Eastern Conference for the next few years. Giannis may be more important to the Bucks win loss record than Tatum is to the Celtics, but I believe Tatum has a legitimate case to be considered the second best player in the world and will continue to build on his resume as the season goes on.
