The Boston Celtics were able to get to the NBA Finals for the first time since the Lakers beat them in a seven-game series in 2010.
The storied franchise has been able to rebuild successfully and did it on the back of two terrific draft picks, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. While a Brown-involved trade for Kevin Durant seemed feasible, it seems these two will be the dynamic duo for quite some time.
The Golden State Warriors won the NBA Finals in 6 games this season, and that left an already-injured Jayson Tatum “miserable.”
Both have grown into full-blown superstars. While the sky is still the limit for the Celtics, especially after adding Indiana guard Malcolm Brogdon, there’s still some pain from their NBA Finals loss to Golden State Warriors.
Having also opened up about a fracture he played through, Tatum, a budding 24-year-old superstar, noted how hard it was for him to get over the loss in his first Finals. He recently spoke with Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks.
“Those three, four days , I was miserable. I really, really was. And it took some time to kind of get out of that funk and just kind of enjoy my life, enjoy being around my son and my family,” Tatum said.
Tatum didn’t play well in the NBA either, so that might have remedied some of the fears that the stage might have been too big for the young guard. After topping 26 points per game for his second straight season, Tatum averaged just 21.5 per game against Golden State.
The real problem was his efficiency as he shot just under 37% from the field. The saving grace is that he did top 45% from deep. Tatum needed to be better for Boston to have any type of chance in the series.
While games in which he was a key facilitator the Celtics were able to thrive, the combo is what Boston needed. That said, Tatum certainly didn’t take the loss well and likely will use it as fuel after that time of sadness had passed.
Tatum’s future is bright, and this may only be the beginning of his illustrious career.