During his Media Day appearance, Jayson Tatum said he doesn't feel like the Boston Celtics are "my team," and that it's all about everybody on the roster doing their part and helping everybody else succeed.
“It’s not a simple thing. Is this is my team?…I understand the roles that we all play on this team... We all bring something different on a daily basis to make the group better, add to towards winning, make this place, this organization better. So it's not just saying it's my team…I got 14 other teammates that I'm going to lean on, and we all need each other to do better every single day," Tatum said
I understand what he's saying, and after all, who am I to tell Tatum he's wrong? But that's exactly what I'm going to do. The Celtics are unequivocally, completely, 100% Tatum's team, and that's a great thing.
Celtics fans should be happy that Jayson Tatum's wrong
One of the biggest appeals (if not the biggest) of Boston moving on from Jaylen Brown this past offseason is that the 1A-1B dynamic is totally gone. Paul George isn't here to replace Brown's workload or role; he's here to help Tatum lead the way and do whatever he needs to do to support him (he even said so himself), and that should be music to Celtics fans' ears.
For the first time in his NBA career, the St. Louis native is going to be the go-to guy. Boston's entire system will be built around him and his strengths, and it should run very smoothly since there's now a clear pecking order.
The Celtics are a better team when Tatum has the ball in his hands more, and it's because of his gravity and what he can do with it. He is a fantastic scorer (albeit a little inconsistent) who can generate points just about anywhere on the court, and he's a fantastic playmaker, especially for his size and position.
In his last full season, the Duke alum averaged a career-high 6 assists per game, and during his limited run this past year, it looked like his court vision improved drastically. He was making reads and passes he hadn't been making in the past, and now that he's the clear No. 1 option, this part of his game should be fully unlocked.
Tatum makes his teammates better, and he contributes to winning basketball in so many ways. Many are counting the Celtics out after another disappointing playoff exit and the Brown trade, but that's not completely fair. This is an incredibly talented team, and with the 28-year-old set to run wild like Hulkamania in the '80s, their ceiling is as high as it's ever been.
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