Jayson Tatum sits down with Chris Forsberg and goes deep on the thinking behind his goal to join Larry Bird in elite company as the best Celtics players of all time.
BOSTON -- If Jayson Tatum is bothered by any summer disrespect, it is not apparent in this moment.
Tatum is strutting around a makeshift photo shoot inside the WGBH building across the street from the Celtics’ training facility in Brighton. He’s got the Larry O’Brien trophy slung in his right arm and a gold medal hanging from his neck. The mug he makes for the camera seems to ask if his detractors are, in fact, the ones who are mad.
See, Tatum isn’t worried about any Steves (Kerr, mostly). He’s not worried about any Richards (Jefferson, to be specific). No, the only thing that moves him right now is Larrys (both O’Brien and Bird).
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On this day, everyone seems to want to know how Tatum plans to respond to Kerr’s limited use of him during the Olympics. Jefferson will soon suggest that you can plug any Top 10 superstar into Tatum’s role (picking Donovan Mitchell in his example) and the Celtics would still thrive, which at least partially discredits Tatum’s two-way impact on the team’s title run.
In a summer that should have been a coronation — with the four-time All-NBA wing winning a title and landing on the cover of NBA 2K25 — all the conversation around Tatum entering the new season is on whether he might find motivation from his detractors.
Tatum refuses to give those people any air. Well, except maybe his own coach, as Tatum playfully feigns exasperation at how Joe Mazzulla is one of the few in these parts who actually loves the very few things that have not tipped Tatum’s way lately.
“Obviously, if you know Joe, you get where he's coming from,” said Tatum. “Everybody else is like, ‘Man, hold your head up.’ And Joe was like, ‘No, I'm happy. It’s good for you. You were at the top of the mountain. You got a new contract, 2K [cover], championship, and you go to the Olympics and it doesn't go your way. How are you going to respond?'"
And that’s the question everyone keeps asking Tatum: How are you going to respond?
He smiles and gets diplomatic when, near the end of his media chores, he’s asked what exactly his response will be.
"It was good to get away from basketball for a little bit but I had so much fun last year with our group,” said Tatum. "I’ve been on teams that the cohesiveness isn't as great. So when it is special — and we had so much fun throughout the season last year, we created so many memories, and we accomplished something that was going to bond us together forever.
"I missed being around the coaches and the guys on the team. So I'm really just happy to be back around.”
Truth is, Tatum’s to-do list is already pretty lengthy, and lofty. He doesn’t have time to deal with the minutiae. After running through the highlights of his summer, he’s asked what other boxes are left to check.
"I've got to check off MVP, Finals MVP, and rack up some more championships,” said Tatum.
MORE CELTICS
And Tatum knows he isn’t reaching the loftiest of his goals without getting better.
“There should be another level,” said Tatum "I'm only 26. I'm going into Year 8 … The motivation isn’t, ‘Oh, he didn't play as much in the Olympics — how's that going to feel?’
"The thing that fuels me is like, Larry Bird is the best player ever to wear a Celtic uniform. That's the guy that, whether it's averaging 30 [points per game] that one season or having a 60-point game and tying his record, like sometimes it's being in the same conversation with him as far as records and things like that go.
"You should strive to be the best. He's the best Celtic of all-time. And that's what I'm chasing. Even if I fall short of that, a little bit, you had a hell of a career. “
It sometimes feels sacrilegious in these parts to suggest that any player might finish their career in the same air as Bird. Larry Joe delivered three Larry O’Bs. He won three MVPs and added two Finals MVPs. Even with his impressive photo shoot accessories, there’s work for Tatum to do to simply produce a similar inventory of accomplishments.
But chasing the greatest Celtics player is better motivation than a couple summer DNPs that will sooner be forgotten. So Tatum isn’t worrying about little blips, he’s focused on the bigger picture.
“Everything sounds crazy until you do it,” said Tatum. "Somebody's got to do it. And not saying it is easy or anything like that. But you should just strive to be the best. And [Bird] was the best to ever wear this jersey.”
A lot of focus entering the season will fall on Tatum’s 3-point shot after he struggled beyond the arc in the postseason and then didn’t make a single perimeter in those limited Olympic minutes. But the road map to MVP goes beyond finding more consistency beyond the arc.
Tatum’s playmaking has evolved last year, pinnacling in the Finals last year where he averaged double digits in potential assists. Given his rebounding talents, particularly while Kristaps Porzingis is sidelined, Tatum should more commonly be a triple-double threat this season.
Last season, Tatum embraced a downturn in counting stats in order for the Celtics to fully thrive. Even if some of his goals are focused on individual accomplishments, he’s always kept the priority on team success.
After all, winning is supposed to silence the critics. But they keep finding something. Tatum can’t help but hear the noise but he’s not going to let that be the only thing that fuels him.
No, his goals are too big to sweat the small stuff.
