Boston Celtics: Jayson Tatum is the new face of Boston sports

Why Boston Celtics young superstar Jayson Tatum is now the face and future of the city now that Tom Brady has departed.

Prior to the NBA and entire sports world going on hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Boston Celtics fans were watching the metamorphosis of Jayson Tatum from a promising young player into a superstar.

In a season in which he averaged 23.6 points per game and 7.1 rebounds, Tatum was not only selected to his first NBA All-Star game, but solidified himself as the current face of the city, especially with the Boston Red Sox shipping Mookie Betts out of town and Tom Brady shifting his long career to a city in Tampa Bay starving for championship hope.

Through his growth during the 2019-20 NBA season, the Duke product has shown he not only has the overall talent to lead a Boston Celtics squad looking to prove the doubters wrong, he showcased a humble maturity that fans have witnessed and teammates like Enes Kanter has seen firsthand.

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In a recent interview with Clutch Points, Kanter marveled on how the young Jayson Tatum has not only embraced the leadership of the team, but the city as well.

"“He put the whole city – not the team – the whole city on his back and said, ‘OK this is my team now.  This is my city now,” Kanter said in the interview, as transcribed by NESN.  “And I’ll say this, especially after Tom Brady left the Patriots, I will say Boston is Jayson Tatum’s city now.  Obviously, he’s 22, but he’s handled the pressure amazingly.”"

Along with Jaylen Brown, Tatum’s breakout season was much welcomed by the city of Boston.

In watching veteran stars like Kyrie Irving and Al Horford ditch the green and white for Philadelphia and Brooklyn respectfully, the Celtics needed to return to that same team concept of basketball that led them to the NBA Eastern Conference Finals back in the 2017-18 NBA season.

Coincidentally, that is when the rookie Jayson Tatum first displayed that he was special.  And after taking somewhat of a step back in his sophomore campaign, Tatum has further showcased his stardom with 40-point games and going toe-to-toe with some of the elite NBA superstars in the league, including LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard.

In both of those cases, he led his team while fellow NBA All-Star Kemba Walker was sitting on the bench, which was another sign of maturity, leadership and stepping his game up while in the spotlight.

So, while logically, the city should belong to Boston Bruins star Patrice Bergeron, the city is ready for Jayson Tatum to be the face for years to come.  Yes, the Bruins may be just as popular if not more so than the Celtics in the city of Boston, but nationally, the NBA is the No. 2 sport behind the NFL and that is where Tatum will be recognized more over a star like Bergeron.

Unless, the New England Patriots do find the next Tom Brady or a player on the level of a Rob Gronkowski or if Rafael Devers emerges as the Boston Red Sox future version of David Ortiz, the city awaits Jayson Tatum and is ready for his transcendence into a top superstar in the league.

Boston Celtics fans are certainly ready for it and so is a city that has lost two superstars in the past few months.