At 26 years old, Jayson Tatum is under more pressure than any other athlete in New England. Hell, he might be under the most pressure in the entire NBA. Turn on any talk show or TV panel and the consensus is clear: it’s the Celtics’ year for Banner 18.
Challenges for the Celtics down the stretch
We’re long past “He’s only 19” jokes and onto crunching Tatum’s concerning clutch stats. Somehow his six-plus years in the league feel twice as long. When the majority of the Celtics’ banners resemble relics from last century, it can be difficult to appreciate the multiple trips to the Eastern Conference Finals.
It’s also possible these last few decades of Boston dominance from wunderkind athletes has conditioned fans to be more Veruca Salt than Charlie Bucket.
“Don’t care how, I want it now!”
GOAT of all GOATs Tom Brady is the obvious example: he entered the NFL as a deep backup and won the Patriots their first Super Bowl the next year, in his first as a starter.
Brad Marchand presents another case of winning it right away. Marchand made an immediate impact in his first NHL season, at just 23 years old. No one can forget his two goals in Game 7 against Vancouver, or the bar tab that followed the Stanley Cup championship.
Mookie Betts didn’t see a championship in his first two years, but he was AL MVP and won the World Series with the Red Sox in just his fourth major league season. His development has likely, in part, inspired the Red Sox’ current slow, build-from-within approach. As if Mookies grow on trees in Greenville.
Tatum’s entrance into the NBA was a thing of beauty. While Kyrie Irving nursed an injury, Tatum led an unlikely group of youngsters to the conference finals against LeBron James. He quickly made his first All-Star appearance two seasons later, and it looked like Boston had found another prodigy.
It’s understandable why Celtics fans feel antsy. Tatum has only gotten to the Finals once. The Celtics have one championship since the 80’s. Both J’s will be earning Super Max contracts soon.
It’s easy to fear whether Tatum is going to be more like Paul Pierce in his championship arc, and complain, “Why couldn’t he win right away, like Larry Bird?”
But here’s a reminder that Tatum is actually right on schedule for a championship, when measured against his contemporaries. Nikola Jokic was 27 when Denver won last year, the same age as LeBron when he won his first championship with Miami. Steph Curry was 26 when Golden State first won. So was Giannis Antetokounmpo when the Bucks won in 2021.
So maybe breathe for a minute! It looks like the Celtics’ year, sure. But Tatum’s right where he should be. Now he just needs to fix that shot in clutch time.