While appearing on his new podcast, “Mind the Game,” with former NBA player JJ Redick, LeBron James showered Jayson Tatum, the star forward for the Boston Celtics, with accolades. Speaking about Tatum’s development throughout time, James emphasized how successful he has been despite still being very young.
“At the age of 25, he has made it to the conference finals four times and the NBA Finals once. My first victory didn’t come until I was 28, and I believe that Jokic and Michael Jordan both won their first titles at the age of 27 and 28, respectively,” James remarked. “I believe we have high expectations for [Tatum], but he has had a great deal of success thus far in his career. Of course, everyone wants to see him get over his current slump, but to make it to four conference finals and the Finals before turning 26 is beyond exceptional.”
James went on to discuss their chances of having another successful postseason run this year.
“He continues to grow, and they are in a position to make another title run,” James stated. As you mentioned, staffing also helps. It also helps to add [Kristaps] Porzingis and to convince Jrue [Holiday] to buy a bag of Lay’s potato chips. But, [Tatum] is unquestionably the best player when it comes to scouting for Boston.”
Tatum has resumed his MVP-caliber play, averaging 27.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, and five assists while shooting 37.9% from outside the arc and 47.4% from the field overall. Even with All-Star selections, All-NBA recognition, and mentions in the MVP discourse, he remains somewhat underappreciated. He has been performing at such a high level since joining the NBA, as LeBron said. In his debut season, he led Boston in scoring in the postseason with 18.5 points, again as a rookie, and helped lead the Celtics to the Eastern Conference finals. For the majority of players joining the league, that is not typical.
