Sometimes, the best of things come out of the worst of things. Now, this can be applied to many facets of life, but to keep this on track with a basketball article, here’s what I mean. Last season, 6 minutes into his first official game for the Boston Celtics, All-Star Gordon Hayward suffered a fractured tibia and a dislocated ankle causing him to miss the remainder of the season. This is the “worst of things” that could happen. The success? The rise of Jayson Tatum. Tatum was selected 3rd overall in the 2017 NBA draft by the Celtics, and if it weren’t for the opportunity due to Hayward’s absence, I don’t think Tatum would’ve been able to show his full potential.
Tatum started 80 regular season games, as well as all 19 postseason games for Boston. In his first year in the league, he averaged 13.9 PPG on 47.5% from the field and 43.4$ from 3-point land, as well as 5.0 RPG, 1.6 APG, 1.0 SPG, and .7 BPG. And his postseason was nothing short of legendary for a rookie. He averaged 18.5 PPG on 47.1% from the field and 32.4% from 3, as well as 4.4 RPG, 2.7 APG, 1.2 SPG, and .5 BPG. These numbers brought him into the conversation for Rookie of the Year (awarded to Ben Simmons), as well as granting him a spot on the NBA All-Rookie First Team.
Tatum took the league by storm and showed just how much of a force he can be one day. He also took to Instagram earlier this offseason to show that he was training with none other than Kobe Bryant, as the Kobe began training Tatum to have his patented Mamba Mentality.
But, now we must return back to reality. For the Celtics, that means the return of Gordon Hayward back from injury. It is currently unknown how coach Brad Stevens plans on running his rotation, but Tatum recently spoke on this topic to Boston.com. He said the following:
“Everybody has a job to do,” he said. “Our job is to be the best versions of ourselves and come together for a bigger goal, which is winning a championship. Brad’s job is to manage playing time and manage all sorts of stuff. That’s why he’s the coach. We got a bunch of selfless guys on the team that just want to win. We’ll figure it out.”
Tatum then went on to emphasize that it doesn’t bother him if he comes off the bench as long as the team wins. Winning is all to the Celtics according to Tatum, and if that’s the case, then all players should accept whatever role they are assigned to.
“I understand how deep our team is,” Tatum continued. “I just care about winning and doing what I can while I’m on the floor.”
The blessing (or curse depending on how one looks at it) for Boston is exactly what Tatum pointed to: the roster is incredibly deep. They have so many different options for players and lineups to run that it becomes difficult to see who fits where and with what other players. This is why Brad Stevens is also one of the greatest coaches in the NBA. He will figure out the different lineup possibilities for all different situations. But one thing is for certain, with no LeBron James in the Eastern Conference anymore, the Celtics will have the best chance of making the NBA finals.
Feature Image via Flikr/RMTip21
