The Boston Celtics have been balling early in the season and part of the reason is the improvement of Jayson Tatum, who is ascending into an All-Star.
When Kyrie Irving and Al Horford walked out that door, more pressure was put on the shoulders of Boston Celtics young duo Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to make that next step into All-Stars.
Well, quarter way through the 2019-20 NBA season and there is a pretty great argument for both being named to the All-Star team, particularly Tatum who has ascended his game and looking the part of an NBA All-Star.
Following a disappointing sophomore season in the NBA with expectations heightened due to his strong rookie season, Jayson Tatum has vowed to make his third season as professional basketball player one in which he achieves one of his ultimate goals of becoming an All-Star.
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"“Obviously, I wanted to make it last year, and that didn’t happen,” Tatum told Masslive’s Tom Westerholm following the team’s 110-88 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers Monday night. “I was disappointed in myself, I didn’t play nearly good enough to make it, and that was tough. I thought about that the entire season and this summer.”"
It was a tough season for the entire Boston Celtics team, a team that had the talent, but struggled to put it all together on the court. Both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown were impacted by that as their play and roles seemed to diminish a bit due to the star power on the team.
This season, however, has been different. With the addition of Kemba Walker and Gordon Hayward playing like his former All-Star self, Tatum and Brown have been able to ascend their individual games influenced by the unselfishness of those players.
In that, the Boston Celtics dynamic young duo are playing looser while embracing the high expectations. Despite shooting just 41.5 percent from the field, Tatum is averaging 21.2 points per game and 7.2 rebounds per game. That means he is taking more shots and is more aggressive driving to the hoop and doing his part on the boards.
The scary part is he is capable of shooting at a higher percentage. Once he does that, he becomes a harder player to stop. He is also still very young, and his game can only get stronger. That goal of becoming an All-Star in 2019-20 is very realistic and here are three reasons why Jayson Tatum is ascending into an All-Star.
3. The emergence of Jaylen Brown
When Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge lost out on the Anthony Davis sweepstakes, he put all his money on the development of two players he selected with the No. 3 pick in the NBA draft in back-to-back seasons.
In watching that young duo lead the team to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals two seasons ago, Ainge and Celtics fans saw a glimpse of what these two players could be.
Although both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are not quite Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen just yet, they are both emerging at the same time which can only put a smile on Ainge’s face in that he made the right decision holding onto both.
While Tatum has gotten most of the hype about his potential to grow into a transcendent player, it is Brown’s emergence that is really helping him get there.
In fact, they are helping each other thrive and become better players because of the highs and lows of the last two seasons. One is pushing the other and that is a great ingredient to the growth of any young player. Friendly, healthy competition on and off the court.
With how Jaylen Brown has been playing this season, he could be the obstacle in the way of Tatum making his first All-Star game.
"“Jaylen’s been great,” Tatum said, via Massive.com. “He’s been playing great this year. He’s really been helping out team out a lot this year, obviously. Hopefully he can keep it up, and maybe we can get three people on the All-Star team. If we keep winning, you never know.”"
What a treat for Boston Celtics fans if the young duo makes their first of many All-Star appearances together. It will be even better if the C’s end up with four All-Stars, although it could be a tall task for both Gordon Hayward and Jaylen Brown to make it playing the same position.
2. The leadership of Kemba Walker
A young player grows in the NBA when there are veteran players to build them up instead of placing blame on them.
Not to knock Kyrie Irving but encouraging young players like Jayson Tatum to keep their heads up when things are not going their way instead of mope is exactly why the addition of Kemba Walker has been so valuable this season.
It really isn’t about talking the talk, because Irving said the right things at times. It’s more about leading with your body language and simply leading by example.
Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens has praised Walker continuously for his professionalism and positivity within his leadership. He is teaching a player like Tatum how to lead by feeding off of him as a basketball player.
In the team’s 17-5 start, Kemba Walker has picked his spots. He is recognizing the talent around him and giving that talent an opportunity to not only grow, but flourish as their own leaders.
As Kawhi Leonard had Tim Duncan and Tony Parker to learn from and Kyrie had LeBron James, Jayson Tatum having a player like Walker to learn from and grow with on a winning team is most valuable to his ascendance into an All-Star, especially the way Kemba praises his young teammates.
"“I’m loving it, especially when I’m not shooting the ball as well as I would like to,” Walker said in early December, via Masslive.com. “It’s fun to watch, man. These dudes are so talented, especially for their age. It just makes life easier for me.”"
That type of leadership and praise from an All-Star will go a long way in the development of a young talent like Tatum.
1. Jayson Tatum, the complete player
This season, Jayson Tatum has shown what he can do as a scorer.
Not only is he averaging over 20 points per game, he has a game-winning shot under his belt along with several stretches in the season in which he has led Boston Celtics on scoring runs.
That’s all great, but the mark of an All-Star is their ability to influence games when the shot is not falling down. Tatum has had some shooting nights he would like to forget about, particularly one bad shooting night that made it into the team’s long history books, but he has found ways to contribute in other ways.
Whether it has been his defense, rebounding or in setting other teammates up, Jayson Tatum is keeping his head up and rejoicing in the team victory verses his own stats.
It does help that he has other players on the team like Kemba Walker, Gordon Hayward and Jaylen Brown who can pick up the slack going when his shot is not falling.
But in becoming that complete player the team needs him to be, understanding and recognizing the other parts of his game that can benefit this version of the Boston Celtics is the top reason why Jayson Tatum is ascending into an NBA All-Star.