To celebrate Boston winning their 18th title, we just dropped SLAM 251, the Champs Issue, featuring none other than the Jays; Jayson Tatum and Finals MVP Jaylen Brown.

SLAM 251 FEATURING THE CELTICS IS OUT NOW

Get your copy of SLAM 251 right now so you can reminisce on the season, whether that’s in Beantown or beyond. And we’ve got Gold Medal Editions on lock, too. Go grab a piece of history and celebrate the champs accordingly.

The post The Champs Are Here: The Boston Celtics Cover SLAM 251 appeared first on SLAM.

Each piece of memorabilia tells a story, whether it’s Bill Russell’s game-worn jersey from the 1965 Finals or the threads from a veteran Bill Walton and a rookie Jayson Tatum, who made his debut just seven years ago. Together, they showcase not only the continually evolving state of the franchise but the League, as well. The walls of the exhibit act as a journey through the organization’s history as displays transition from the extremely short shorts of decades past to today’s jerseys that are lighter and more boundary-pushing than ever and some not-so-short shorts to boot.

Altogether, the exhibition boasts 11 of Boston’s championship rings alongside the 1981 Larry O’Brien Trophy, Cedric Maxwell’s Finals MVP of the same year, and the defunct Walter Brown Trophy—awarded to the team that won the NBA Finals and passed from team to team until the 1975-76 season, when the Celtics were the last team to secure the trophy.

But ultimately, what connects these pieces of memorabilia, some of which have as much as 50 years of history between them, is the green-and-white that represents the team from New England. If you’re a Celtics fan or simply obsessed with basketball lore, The Vault inside the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame holds all the knowledge for a limited time.

Photos via Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

The post The Vault Inside the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is Where the Boston Celtics’ Past and Present Coincide appeared first on SLAM.

We compiled a group of individuals (programming note: 30 entries, not 30 people total) who mean something special to SLAM and to our audience. Read the full list here and order your copy of SLAM 248, where this list was originally published, here.

On June 12, 2015, we found ourselves walking the streets of downtown St. Louis with 17-year-old Jayson Tatum. At the time, though he was a five-star recruit who would soon commit to Duke, we were able to freely roam the streets without Jayson being bombarded by fans. Today, we wouldn’t be able to redo that shoot so seamlessly. But that day perfectly encapsulates the long-ranging relationship that SLAM has built with many of today’s NBA superstars.

The shoot was longer than our usual high school shoot: Jayson was about to become our HS Diarist for the following academic year, meaning he’d have his own column in the magazine for the following 12 months, which meant we’d have to capture plenty of images in different outfits so that we’d have enough options for all of the coming issues.

Jayson was accompanied by his entire family that day: his mother Brandy, his father Justin, his grandmother, his high school girlfriend and other relatives. We walked around taking photos in different parts of downtown St. Louis in the beaming summer sun. Although he had a cool, calm and collected demeanor, you could tell he already knew he was a star in the making. Going into the shoot, we asked him to bring whatever streetwear outfits he thought best reflected his personality. He showed up with a custom St. Louis Cardinals jersey that had his name stitched on the back, which he rocked for a photo in front of the iconic Gateway Arch. The second outfit he brought? A full gray suit, with a white dress shirt and a patterned pink/red/orange/white tie. He really meant business from Day 1.  

Through his diary entries in the issues that followed, we got a glimpse of his competitive side. He wrote about looking forward to playing against his dad during the season (Tatum attended Chaminade and his dad was the head coach of their rival school, Christian Brothers), and kept track of their head-to-head record. We also learned the impact that his mother had on his life, and even some of the school projects he enjoyed working on the most, along with any extracurricular activities. 

Toward the end of his senior year, Tatum was part of our annual HS All-American team shoot, where he posed alongside De’Aaron Fox, Malik Monk, Harry Giles III and Josh Jackson in a conference room at a hotel in Midtown Manhattan. The SLAM All-American uniforms that year were sponsored by Jordan Brand and the shoot itself happened during Jordan Brand Classic week in NYC. Today, Tatum and Jordan have a very fruitful partnership. A full circle journey, indeed.

In the aftermath of his high school days, SLAM and Tatum have continued working together. In 2018, he appeared on his first solo SLAM cover, wearing a band-aid on his face in a nod to fellow St. Louis legend Nelly (the title of his HS feature—the spread where he’s wearing the aforementioned custom Cardinals jersey—was “Ride Wit Me,” a reference to Nelly’s hit single). In late 2022, he posed for his second solo cover. He’s also been a part of a couple of group covers. In 2023, he appeared on his first KICKS cover alongside fellow Jordan Brand athletes Zion Williamson and Luka Doncic. 

Point being, nine years later, Tatum and SLAM continue to collaborate on some top-tier shoots. He has not only played a major role in SLAM’s story and growth over the past decade—he’s also done the same for the game of basketball. Today, he’s one of the NBA’s biggest stars. A lethal scorer with a smooth flow to his game, he’s already been to four Conference Finals and got within two games of winning an NBA title in 2022. Off the court, he’s emerged as one of the most marketable figures in the game—you can always find him on TV, starring in commercials for Subway, Ruffles and Gatorade, among others. And, of course, he has his own signature sneaker with Jordan Brand—another TV spot to add to the list. He’s also become a model figure for fatherhood in the League—Jayson and his son, Deuce, are an elite duo in the hearts of all hoop fans and are frequently spotted together on the court and in the locker room after games. (And, for obvious reasons, we love when Deuce rocks his dad’s SLAM cover tee, which has happened a few times.)

Needless to say, as the headline of his high school story fittingly said, we’ve been riding wit’ JT for almost a decade, and we look forward to seeing all the destinations that lie ahead. 

Portrait by Chris Razoyk. Photo via Getty Images.

The post THE 30 PLAYERS WHO DEFINED SLAM’S 30 YEARS: Jayson Tatum appeared first on SLAM.

Our photographer is snapping away, and Williamson needs to get on the same page as his fellow KICKS cover stars—Luka Doncic and Jayson Tatum. Smiles or straight faces?

On this day in early July, it’s hard not to smile. We’re on a boat in the heart of Paris, docked along the Seine. The Eiffel Tower—about a mile up the river—creates a backdrop so stunning it looks almost fake. After a morning of rain, the clouds have parted and the sun shines down, beaming through the ceiling windows. Biggie’s “Sky’s the Limit”—Zion’s choice—blasts through a speaker. Williamson, Doncic and Tatum are standing on white seamless paper, delicately holding the latest offerings in their signature lines with Jordan Brand—the Zion 3, Luka 2 and Tatum 1—like they’re newborn babies. A large-scale media event has been organized for the afternoon, where the three sneakers will officially be introduced to the world.

So, yeah, there’s a lot to smile about. But the verdict? Straight faces. Mean mugs.

KICKS 26 featuring Zion, JT and Luka is available now. Shop here.

On the surface, Williamson, Doncic and Tatum have a lot in common. They are all young superstars (Tatum is the oldest at 25, Doncic is 24 and Williamson just turned 23 in July)—leaders of the next generation to take over the NBA. They are all versatile, positionless players—embodiments of the direction the game is heading. And, of course, they are all part of Jordan Brand’s exclusive roster of signature athletes.

Yet, it’s the uniqueness of each player that makes the design process both challenging and stimulating for the Jordan team. “It makes it more interesting, to be real,” says David Cin, Jordan Brand Senior Design Director of Performance Footwear. “It’s definitely challenging—you have to study what their needs are.”

The Brand constructs its basketball products based on two core principles: motion and emotion. First, silhouettes are crafted to benefit the motion of players on the floor. Designers study game film (not unlike how coaches do) to discern the precise movements and styles of their athletes. They grab clips and break them down into individual frames, laying out the images on a giant mural board. The question then becomes, How do we build a shoe perfectly tailored to these types of movements? Mechanical engineers work with material experts and other specialists to come up with the right solutions.

Of course, design decisions are also informed by meetings with the athletes themselves. That’s where the emotion component of each pair—which deals more with the narrative that surrounds it—is mostly unpacked. Beyond creating products that enhance performance, the Brand aims to evoke emotion through storytelling. The Zion 3, Luka 2 and Tatum 1 are all reflections of their namesakes’ journeys to this point.

“At the end of the day, it’s about really digging deeper into who our athletes are as people and allowing our consumer to see that other side,” says Kelsey Amy, Jordan Brand Expert Color Designer of Performance Footwear.

“We knew that had to be a part of the equation, too,” adds Cin. “Thinking about, Hey, what’s that feeling you get [from shoes]? How can we tap into that? How can we inspire kids?”

Williamson is seated on the lower deck of the boat, where the multi-hued carpet nearly matches the “Sanctuary” colorway of his Zion 3. We’ve asked the Pelicans star to describe his emotions on this dreamlike afternoon. He takes a deep breath, and that youthful smile returns to his face. “Two words,” he says. “Lord Jesus! Lord Jesus! Lord Jesus!”

It’s a cliché, but Williamson really looks like a kid on Christmas morning—only he’s seen this present before, many, many times. As he tells KICKS, he’s even more excited about the Zion 3 than he was about the first two releases in his signature line.

“When you look at my signature shoes, each shoe was built to represent what I was doing extremely well during that time,” he explains. “During my first year and a half in the League, I was more of a post player. I could handle [the ball], but I was mostly, like, a stretch 4, so when I would do certain moves, it would be [about] power or my second jump. So my first shoe was designed on that. If you look at my second shoe, I started handling the ball more, so it was about containment of power while still being able to have finesse. The third one, I think—I’m sorry, I know—that the third one represents who I am and what my game is like.”

In an early meeting about the Zion 3 almost two years ago, Williamson opened up to the Jordan team about a piece of his story that had yet to be fully explored through his line. His path to the NBA, Zion explained, is often misconstrued as having been easy, largely due to his athletic gifts and ridiculous highlight tapes.

“He talked about how people think that it’s just been sweet,” says Jarrett Mann, Jordan Brand Global Product Director of Performance Footwear. “They think that he was an overnight sensation—that he basically came on the scene as a 16-year-old YouTube phenom, and it was dunks and blocks and he was the highest sought-after recruit since LeBron [James]. But he talked a lot about coming to that moment.”

It was far from easy, Williamson stressed. 

I’m gonna shock the world. Y’all just gotta wait.

– Zion Williamson tells SLAMKicks

As a kid growing up in Florence, SC—not exactly known as a hotbed for basketball—he had to get it out the mud. “A lot of people where I’m from, when you talk about making it out, it’s not just basketball we’re using,” says Zion. “We’re just trying to make it out in any way.”

By the age of 9, Williamson was waking up at 5 a.m. every day to train with his stepfather (in the South, it’s wise to beat the blistering sun). Coming from a state with so few NBA players, he struggled with self-doubt. “I would always just kind of have in my mind, I’m not gonna make it, I don’t think I’m gonna do it,” he says. “That way, if something went wrong—like I heard in all the stories growing up—then I wouldn’t feel as bad about it. I always had self-doubt, but the older I got and the more I trusted my game and trusted who I was—who I am—the doubt has been erased.”

The Zion 3 was structured to communicate this lesser-told part of Williamson’s past, and the “out the mud” mentality it cultivated in him. Joël Greenspan, Jordan Brand Senior Designer of Performance Footwear, worked with a computational designer to simulate the visual effect of Zion’s foot last launching through mud (they went as far as to study different viscosities and the mud specific to South Carolina). It wasn’t just about creating a color-splatter design on the upper; the Jordan team also sought to make the mud a useful component of the shoe.

“The mud is a metaphor. It’s the hardship, the difficult times that Zion had to go through,” says Greenspan. “It’s therefore the thing that made him strong. We knew immediately that we had this idea of mud to armor. We wanted the mud to be the thing that makes the shoe strong.”

The solution? Haptic ink—a special kind of screen print previously used on Nike’s Metcon silhouettes, which are, according to Expert Material Designer of Performance Footwear Jacqueline Lefferts, “the only shoes where people can climb up a rope without holes being burnt through them.” The haptic ink provides extra reinforcement and containment in stress areas. “I guess the process was really, How do we tell this narrative in a beautiful way but still make it performance enhancing?” Lefferts says. In addition to the ink, the shoe features a Formula 23 drop-in midsole for enhanced court feel and a Zoom Air bag for crash protection. Williamson’s “Zion” logo is displayed prominently on the heel.

Of course, the man behind that logo hopes that his new sneaker gives others the confidence to overcome their own uphill battles—to make it out the mud, just as he did. “No matter where you’re from, no matter what situation you’re in, no matter how bad things are looking, no matter how good things are looking—when you put the [Zion 3] on, you should feel that you can literally do anything,” he says. “Whatever your aspirations are, with the Zion 3 on, you got a chance. That’s what I want people to feel.”

That’s what Williamson will feel when he laces up the Zion 3 this upcoming season. “One of my favorite things [about the shoe]—you can zoom in on that,” he tells us, flipping up the tongue to reveal three words printed on the inside: Shock the World. “I still stand on that. I’m gonna shock the world. Y’all just gotta wait.”

“I would say of our portfolio of athletes, in terms of just chapters of life, [Luka] has the most unique journey to him arriving at where he is,” Amy says.

That journey spans thousands of miles, beginning in the beautiful city of Ljubljana, Slovenia, where Doncic—Jordan Brand’s first European born-and-raised signature athlete—grew up. His father, Sasa, played professional ball for several years, and Luka fell in love with the game right away. “I was basically with basketball my whole life,” he says. “My father was playing and I was always with a ball in my hands, always at his games. So I was just connected to basketball.”

He had a natural feel for the sport and played whenever and wherever he could, flocking to an outdoor court every day after school. By the time he was 8, Doncic was already running with a group of 12- to 14-year-olds. “It all just came naturally,” he says. “I always played with older guys and then I could learn a lot from them.”

At 13, Doncic was offered a five-year contract by Real Madrid. Accepting the deal meant leaving his family and friends behind and moving to a country where he didn’t even speak the native language. “It was tough. At first it was a for sure no,” he admits. “I didn’t want to go.” But Doncic eventually decided to make the leap, determined to continue chasing his NBA dream. He picked up Spanish in just three months and blossomed on the court, earning numerous Liga ACB honors and winning EuroLeague MVP for a championship squad in 2018.

Doncic developed a unique skill set while competing overseas. The court is smaller and there’s no defensive three seconds in the international game, shrinking the space that players have to operate. Doncic had to focus on how to create space, despite not being the most athletic player in the league. The result? A combination of footwork, vision and balance that is one of one—and makes the task of designing his signature line extremely challenging.

“With the Luka franchise in general, we have an athlete who really gives us some very unique problems to solve,” says Chad Troyer, Jordan Brand Global Senior Product Line Manager of Performance Footwear.

Problems like, How do we account for Doncic’s elite step-back? Answer: the IsoPlate, an innovation built exclusively for Luka that wraps up the medial and lateral forefoot and secures the foot when shifting from front to back.

Informed by meetings with the Mavericks training staff and additional insights from Doncic, the Luka 2 combines the IsoPlate and full-length Formula 23 with a new medial Cushlon 3.0 wedge foam to keep Luka’s foot in control and propel him out of his moves, facilitating even more separation between him and his defenders. “It’s always going to be about space creation for Luka,” says Greenspan.

Colorways of the Luka 2 celebrate the many chapters of Doncic’s life. The “Lake Bled” is a nod to the scenic body of water in Luka’s hometown in Slovenia—“I think it’s one of the most beautiful places not only in Slovenia, but in the world,” Doncic says—and the teal-based “Matador” is inspired by his pro career in Madrid.

“Luka has taken the world by storm, with kids all over the globe from every different kind of culture,” Troyer stresses. Those kids, from as far away as Slovenia and Madrid, can look at Doncic’s story as proof that your dreams are never too far-fetched. That it’s possible to make it all the way to the NBA if you chase that ambition just as Doncic did.

“It’s up to us as a Brand to be able to dig deeper on those stories and educate our consumer on who Luka is as a person,” adds Amy, “and how he got from point A to point B.”

Truth is, there was no magic formula—just hard work, a lot of sacrifice and a real passion for the game. “Ljubzen” (“Love” in Slovenian) is printed on the top eyelet of the Luka 2, and the words “NON DESISTAS” and “NON EXIERIS” are featured on the heel of each shoe respectively, which translates from Latin to “Never give up, never surrender.”

“It was tough leaving Slovenia and moving to Madrid when I was 13. But looking back, I think that experience pushed me to where I am today,” Doncic reflected upon the 2’s release. “I hope my journey, from a kid in Slovenia dreaming of playing in the NBA, can inspire people everywhere to go after their dreams and stay true to themselves no matter what.”

It was June 2020, and Jayson Tatum was chatting over Zoom with his team at Jordan. That’s when they suddenly dropped the news on him: the Brand was giving him a signature. And Tatum…barely reacted. He froze—not on Zoom, in real life. He was in complete shock. It wasn’t until the design process kicked off that it really began to sink in. This is actually happening. This is my dream.

During those early brainstorms, Tatum expressed his preference that his signature be lightweight and feel connected to his foot in a way that was second nature. “As a basketball player, you don’t want to think about the shoe when you’re playing,” he explains. “You just want to lace your shoes up and go play the game. That level of comfort and trust in a way from your sneaker allows you to be yourself.”

The eventual product—the Tatum 1—is the lightest sneaker in Jordan Brand’s performance line. “That’s what we tried to target first and foremost,” says Derek Foster, Global Product Line Manager of Performance Footwear. “And then, within that, we were just really trying to nail down some of the attributes that relate to Jayson. We looked at his biomechanics and the way he plays—he’s a very forefoot-dominant athlete.”

Designers were able to remove weight while still maintaining a strong TPU frame that supports Tatum’s side-to-side movements—as does the outsole, which implements a plate technology. An uncaged Zoom Air bag is included in the forefoot, allowing Tatum to play efficiently on his toes just the way he likes.

Aside from the sneaker’s functionality, Tatum emphasized the importance of the Tatum 1 being for kids, not just for him. He prioritized creating a kids-specific design that utilizes an innovative tailgate system for easy entry. His son’s nickname, Deuce, is also featured on the inside of the tongue of three of the first four colorways. “[Deuce] challenges me to be a better person, because I always know that he is watching everything that I do,” Jayson says. “He’s inspired me to be a better man, to be a better role model, to be a better basketball player.”

“What [Tatum] brought to the table, what felt important to him, was to be about the future—to inspire kids,” says Bryant Klug, Jordan Brand Expert Designer of Performance Footwear. “He isn’t treating it like a scrapbook of all his own details—we have some of that stuff on the shoe, but he always talked about it, like, who it was for. And it was always for other people.”

There are two things that I’ve kind of always lived by. [One], you can never dream too big…

Another thing that goes hand in hand with that is, the bigger you dream, the harder you have to work.

– Jayson Tatum

Those details—like the coordinates of St. Louis and the words “I Just Didn’t Quit” (inspired by a Nipsey Hussle quote) on the TPU piece of the outsole, as well as “Living Proof” on the outer part of the rubber—reflect his own journey, for sure, but with the intent of influencing the next Jayson Tatum. They tell the story of a kid from the Midwest—raised in a city that, like Williamson’s hometown, isn’t known for basketball—working tirelessly to reach the NBA. His head coach at Chaminade HS, Frank Bennett, insists Tatum took just two days off during his four years there—the two days following their state championship victory his senior season.

“There are two things that I’ve kind of always lived by,” Tatum says. “[One], you can never dream too big. I grew up in St. Louis. My mom lived check to check—she was 19 when she had me. We’re not supposed to be here. I had dozens of people when I was younger tell me that I should choose a different dream or another profession—you know, something more realistic. But another thing that goes hand in hand with that is, the bigger you dream, the harder you have to work. And I was never going to let anybody outwork me.”

As a young boy, Tatum looked up to Kobe Bryant. He had on “What The” Kobe 9s in the state title game as a senior and rocked the “Prelude” colorways of the Kobe 5 and 6 when he played on the EYBL circuit. He was inspired by the Mamba’s blueprint. Now Tatum is the one setting his own blueprint, and he has a brand-new canvas with which to convey it.

“I know firsthand the influence that you can have on somebody without ever knowing them or meeting them,” Tatum says, reflecting on the impact that Bryant—all the way out in Los Angeles—had on him in St. Louis.

“So I understand the responsibility that I have, with the platform that I have, to inspire the next generation, whether they want to be a basketball player or the best doctor in the world—whatever it is, just to inspire somebody.”

Portraits by Alex Woodhouse.

The post Luka Doncic, Jayson Tatum & Zion Williamson All in Paris?! SLAMKICKS Exclusive appeared first on SLAM.

Here’s a nice and simple number, though: 

Five. 

Jayson Tatum has had five 50-plus-point games in his career. That’s more than Larry Bird, more than Paul Pierce, more than John Havlicek, more than Isaiah Thomas, more than Sam Jones, more than Bob Cousy, more than Kevin McHale and more than Ray Allen. 

Tatum has scored at least 50 more times than any other Celtic. He and Bird are the only players to ever score 60 for the League’s most storied club. 

Here’s one more easy number to put all of that into perspective: 

24. 

As in, he’s only 24 years old. 

The above is special regardless of age. The skill level is magnified under the intensity of the attention that the Cs have always received. Last season’s run to the Finals has heightened the attention around Tatum even more. He’s delivered, making expectations seem more like invitations to demonstrate his dominance. A few more numbers, true as we go to press, to illustrate the evolution super clearly: 

—Career-best 31 points per game

—Career-best 8.6 rebounds per game 

—Career-best-tying 4.4 assists per game 

—Six 40-plus-point games

—10 30-plus-point games 

The eye test is a resounding pass. He scores a 100 on that, an A+, gets five gold stars and one round of applause. 

Tatum scores in every single way imaginable on the floor. Single coverage is pretty much no coverage for him. Going up against a double team is like a fun challenge that he can solve most of the time. These days, it looks like triple teams are becoming a necessity. 

He’s been surpassing the ghosts of Celtics past in mostly the Air Jordan 37 Low. Jordan’s signature foam, Formula 23, is stacked in the heel for landing, while an Air Strobel unit and a Zoom Air unit are double-stacked in the forefoot. Tatum’s shown off a variety of PEs while he’s been in the 37. 

But things are about to change…

Photos via Getty Images.

The post Jayson Tatum’s Game is Already Otherworldly, but He’s Just Getting Started appeared first on SLAM.

The three-time All-Star officially passed the three-time MVP for most 50-point games in Boston Celtics history after he scored a season-high 51 points on 15-23 shooting from the field, 7-12 from beyond the arc, and a perfect 14-14 from the charity stripe to lead Boston to a 130-118 win over Charlotte. Tatum has posted more 50-point games than Bird and Paul Pierce COMBINED.

“He makes me look like a better coach,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said per ESPN. “He didn’t settle for shots; he got catch-and-shoots, he got off the dribbles, he got layups. The other piece of that is the humility of our team to really work with him to get those 51 points.”

JAYSON TATUM 51 PIECE

HE DROPPED 18 PTS IN Q4 pic.twitter.com/dinmve9N8T

— NBA (@NBA) January 16, 2023

Tatum’s 51-point effort was his first 50-point outing since he scored 54 and 51 last season and notched a career-high 60 points during the 2020-21 campaign. Tatum has tied Gilbert Arenas for the third-best scoring performance on MLK Day after Agent Zero dropped 51 points in 2007.

“It’s been a while since I scored 50,” Tatum said per Yahoo Sports. “So I needed that one.”

Tatum scored his 51st point with 38 seconds left after knocking down his seventh triple of the evening, which drew “MVP ” chants from the Charlotte crowd. After Charlotte cut Boston’s lead to 98-95 following a pair of free throws from Jaden McDaniels, Tatum came in and responded with 18 fourth-quarter points to put the game out of reach.

Boston (33-12) holds the top spot in the League after Tuesday and is 4.5 games ahead of Brooklyn (27-15) for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

The post Jayson Tatum Breaks Boston Record For Most 50-Point Games appeared first on SLAM.

After a monster outing on Wednesday, Brown believes that The Jays have “other limits to reach in the future.” Brown dropped a season-high 41 points and 12 rebounds, while Tatum added 31 points and 10 rebounds to beat the New Orleans Pelicans 125-114. It was the fifth 40-point game in Brown’s career and the 10th time that Brown and Tatum combined to score 70+ points.

“I don’t think this is the best you will see,” Brown said, per ESPN. “I definitely think we’ve got other limits to reach in the future, in our career. This is just part of the process.”

41 PTS (season-high)
12 REB

Jaylen Brown went off in the Celtics home W pic.twitter.com/faQNsTi5qo

— NBA (@NBA) January 12, 2023

Interim head coach Joe Mazzulla believes Tatum and Brown have been using the pain of losing the 2022 NBA Finals to fuel their high level of play. He complimented Brown for playing aggressively against the Pelicans, saying Brown “took what the defense gave him and made the right plays.”

“To get to that point in your career when you know you need each other, and you know you need your teammates — it’s a very powerful thing,” Mazzulla said.

The Jays continued to shine for us tonight by combining for 72 points and 22 rebounds during our win over the Pelicans. pic.twitter.com/CHr0zdzD8f

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) January 12, 2023

Malcolm Brogdon (20 points, four rebounds, and four assists) echoed those statements during a TV appearance and said that he’s noticed how The Jays have “taken a huge leap individually and together, so it’s a joy to be with them.” Al Horford (14 points, three board, and four dimes) commended The Jays for the growth they’ve experienced this season.

“They continue to grow in front of our eyes,” Horford said. “What we did last year and what they did last year leading us to the Finals, it shows a lot of growth on their end — Now I feel like they’re just playing basketball, trying to lead us.”

Boston (30-12) plays the Brooklyn Nets (27-13) on Thursday.

The post Jaylen Brown Believes He Has ‘Other Limits to Reach in the Future’ with Jayson Tatum appeared first on SLAM.

The fifth-year center out of Texas A&M started a game for the first time since Game 6 of the 2022 NBA Finals. He ended the night with six points, seven rebounds, two assists, and two blocks while playing 23 minutes in a 107-99 win over the Chicago Bulls.

“He was great,” Celtics interim head coach Joe Mazzulla said of Williams’ contributions, per NBA.com. “I think he brought a level of joy to our team just because of how unselfish he is and the type of plays he’s able to make on both ends of the floor. I thought our spacing was better with our big lineup. That’s just something we’re going to continue to work on.”

big man pass, big man jam pic.twitter.com/qbcq5WGOxV

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) January 10, 2023

Williams has played in 10 games since he first returned from offseason knee surgery on Dec. 16 against the Orlando Magic. Since then, he’s averaged 7.7 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game while playing 19.8 minutes. Boston has also become the seventh-best defense (110.9 defensive rating) and the best offense in the League (117.1 offensive rating).

According to Mazzulla, Boston found their identity as an improved offense that can play stingy defense. Williams being in the lineup allows Boston to fully realize their two-way potential, with Mazzulla specifically stating that Williams gives Boston “a different attack that we can have.”

Grant Williams seems to agree with that assessment. The fourth-year forward said that the Time Lord strengthens Boston offensively and fortifies them on the defensive end with his ability to patrol the paint and defend the rim at an elite level. Tatum noticed how Williams “was in a great rhythm” and that the Celtics are”extremely happy to have (Williams) back.”

 “He does so many tremendous things that not many people in the league can even do,” said Grant, “He does a phenomenal job of not only protecting us on the defensive end, but he’s doing a great job pressuring on the offensive glass, being a threat down there – a lob threat. And like JT and [Jaylen Brown] have both said in previous days, we get to continue to include him, we get to continue to work him back into the offense, get familiar with him, understand that there may be opportunities to not only throw lobs but also dropping off to him to allow him to make a play.”

Boston will look to win their fourth-consecutive game against the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday.

The post Boston Reacts to Rob Williams’ Return to the Starting 5 appeared first on SLAM.

The recent stretch of lagging defense and tough losses have proven to be their first test of adversity this season. Surging star forward Jayson Tatum recently gave NBC Sports Boston some insight into what Boston has to do to rediscover their identity and play winning basketball again.

“I think it’s on the first group; we’ve got to back to our identity,” Tatum said. “When we were playing at the best and highest level, we would just play faster. That’s some 0.5 basketball, shoot it, pass it, or drive it. When we play like that, we’re damn near unguardable. Making shots is part of that, so they go hand and hand.”

Over the last nine games, Boston ranks 23rd in offense (113.5) and seventh in defense (112.8). A bit of a reversing trend for a team that held the top offense in the League and a bottom-15 defense before the Celtics’ 4-5 stretch of basketball. Going forward, Boston will likely look to marry their two-way play at a higher level beginning with a road game against the Dallas Mavericks.

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Here’s what happened across the L over the weekend. Let’s get it.

James Harden is Reportedly “Seriously Considering” Returning to Houston:

According to NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski at ESPN, Harden is reportedly considering a reunion with the Rockets if he doesn’t re-sign with Philadelphia as a free agent in July.

However, after the Sixers’ win over the Knicks on Christmas Day, Harden addressed the media and let them know how he really feels about being in Philly.

“I’m here, we’re playing very well, and I don’t know where that report came from,” Harden said, per NBC Sports Philadelphia. “But I’m excited to be here, and we’re playing well. We’re continuing to get better.”

Meanwhile, Harden caught everyone’s attention with this colorful holiday fit. Hide y’all presents.

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A post shared by LeagueFits (@leaguefits)

Joel Embiid and Harden Combine to Score 64 Points against the Knicks:

The Beard (29 points and 13 dimes) and Joel Embiid (35 points) put up a combined 64 points, 12 rebounds, and 14 assists to help the 76ers extend their win streak to eight games with a 119-112 dub over the Knicks on Sunday.

The Sixers outscored the Knicks 24-9 to open the fourth and turned a one-point deficit into a 116-102 lead late in the fourth quarter.

“It was one of those games where you’ve just got to stick around,” Harden said per ESPN. “Like, stick around, stick around, and then fourth quarter, you give yourself a chance.

64 PTS | 12 REB | 14 AST @JHarden13 & @JoelEmbiid‘s combined Christmas Day stat line. vote both for NBA All-Star: https://t.co/kNf5hhEIQx.

presented by @palottery pic.twitter.com/Lu2cQROE6c

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) December 25, 2022

Jayson Tatum Torches the Bucks For 41 Points while Jaylen Brown Takes Over:

Jayson Tatum posted 41 points, including a ferocious first-half yam over Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Jaylen Brown scored 29 points to help Boston (24-10) reclaim the top record in the League with a 139-118 win over the Bucks (22-11).

Boston grabbed a 100-86 lead after Tatum scored 20 points in the third quarter, and Brown brought the Celtics home with 13 points in the final frame; he also refused to back down after posting a screen that sent the Greek Freak to the ground. Brown and Antetokounmpo had a back-and-forth, but y’all know it’s only basketball. The players don’t take it seriously, and neither should basketball fans.

Boston gave Milwaukee their first three-game losing streak, while the Celtics have now won back-to-back contests after losing five out of six recent games.

HE CAUGHT ONE @jaytatum0 hammered it home in tonight’s @JetBlue Play of the Game pic.twitter.com/ZU6oCbvRB0

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) December 26, 2022

Jordan Poole Put Up a Dominate 32 Points to Lead Golden State Past Memphis:

Jordan Poole did what he had to do to play Grinch and ruin the Grizzlies’ Christmas after he dropped a team-high 32 points to lead the Warriors past Memphis on Sunday. Draymond Green (13 rebounds, 13 assists, two blocks) and Klay Thompson (24 points on 8-25 shooting) also put up some solid performances. They played up the burgeoning rivalry they have with Memphis with some sublime shi*t talking toward Dillon Brooks as well.

“He knows that he can’t get a second one. He’s still a young player,” head coach Steve Kerr said per ESPN. “Jordan was fantastic tonight, and we needed his offensive firepower.”

Dray Jordan

» https://t.co/ocDF2EGGU9 pic.twitter.com/HL0YggMOBa

— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) December 26, 2022

Nikola Jokic Drops a Christmas Day Triple-Double Against the Suns:

Nikola Jokic (41 points, 15 boards, and 15 dimes) dropped his 83rd career triple-double and led the Nuggets to a 128-125 win over the Phoenix Suns. The two-time MVP recorded a 40-point, 27-rebound, 10-assist performance a week ago. It was the fourth 40-point, 15-rebound, 15-assist game in League history. Oscar Robertson (1961, 1962) accomplished it twice, and James Harden did it in 2016.

“Sick,” Aaron Gordon said of Jokic’s outing, per ESPN. “Those are video game numbers.”

Another MVP performance

41/15/15. Triple-Double 8⃣3⃣ pic.twitter.com/W5PNYlDFar

— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) December 26, 2022

Jamal Murray (26 points, five rebounds, and five assists) forced overtime with a game-tying dunk, and Aaron Gordon put the exclamation point on the win with a poster over Landry Shamet.

“Yeah,” Gordon said. “Because of the time and score.”

Nuggets Nation BROUGHT THE ENERGY tonight. For that, we leave you with this

Goodnight, Wuggets Wation pic.twitter.com/WOYUm1twk7

— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) December 26, 2022

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His game—and his legacy, if it’s not too early to discuss such things—lies at a unique intersection of old and new, historic and cutting edge. Jayson Tatum is 24 years old, and it seems simultaneously as if he’s been in the League a decade, or barely any time at all. The truth, as he begins his sixth NBA season, is that Tatum is a three-time All-Star and one of the most complete forwards in the game.

The old and historic date back to his schoolboy days in St. Louis, where his family connections spoke to future success. He’s the godson of Larry Hughes and a cousin of Tyronn Lue. After a college year in Durham at Duke, he landed in Boston, the NBA’s most history-obsessed city, where like all great players, he’s compared to the legends (Larry and otherwise) who wore the green and white before him. At the same time, he also developed a deep connection with one of the iconic legends of the Celtics’ greatest rival. With Tatum, the connections to the past run deep, and in multiple directions.

But his game? That’s thoroughly new school, and already truly elite. He showed it during the 2019-20 season, when his per-game scoring jumped from nearly 16 ppg to better than 23 points per. Last season, in his third straight All-Star campaign, he averaged 26.9 points, 8 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game, establishing himself in that rare tier of players who do everything very, very well.

Tatum chose the playoffs, as all Boston greats must, to truly announce himself to the basketball-watching world. He led the Celtics past Giannis and the defending champs from Milwaukee, then past a relentless squad from Miami and into the NBA Finals, where it took Stephen Curry and the healthy, resurgent and reloaded Golden State Warriors to keep Boston from another title and Tatum from his first. He settled for Eastern Conference Finals MVP honors and the gift of understanding what it will take to lead his team to a championship.

You don’t have to believe in destiny to like Tatum’s odds. He’s everything an NBA standard bearer needs to be: immensely talented, intensely focused on improving and a joy to watch, owner of one of the smoothest and most complete offensive games of his generation. He may not have the high-wattage personality of most of the rest of the new Starting Lineup generation of which he’s so deservedly a part, but Tatum has the quiet swagger and a definite sense of style—those Taco Js, immortalized on his figure, are already iconic—to go with it. Most importantly, he’s got the game.

Simply put: He’s already so good and probably not yet close to his peak. More All-Star picks, more MVP consideration and many more deep playoff runs seem all but inevitable. The green and white, and the game in general, are in good hands.

The post Starting Lineup’s Jayson Tatum NBA Action Figure Captures the Celtics Superstar’s Elite Game appeared first on SLAM.

While we are less than halfway into the NBA season, Mazzulla and the C’s are thriving. Mazzulla credits Brad Stevens, who coached the Celtics from 2013-2021, for supporting him this season and being his “sounding board” per the Boston Globe.

“Just constant communication as far as where we think the team is, where we think we can go, what we can get better at, and what we’re doing well,” Mazzulla said. “He’s always done a good job as a coach of homing in on what we’re doing well and what we could do better. So for him to be on the outside and seeing it from a different perspective has helped me narrow in on what’s important on both ends. As a first-time head coach, to have a guy who’s coached in the NBA, has coached in a lot of big games, and has coached this team and has a great feel for what’s going on, it’s priceless.”

Stevens has had Mazzulla’s back since day one, so it’s no surprise he’s continued to offer his guidance as the C’s look to maintain their spot at the top of the League.

The ‘Kiss of Death’

A Tatum dagger is almost always followed by a kiss to the crowd, a celebration he calls the “kiss of death”. On Dec. 7, Grant Williams sank a 3-pointer in the first half and tried out the celebration for himself.

Goofy and loving, Williams has become a “little brother” figure in the Celtics locker room. Tatum essentially rolled his eyes at Williams celebration and said “he was too excited, too hyped”. 

“He was jumping. I was like, ‘Grant, it’s still the second quarter.’ So I pulled him aside and said, ‘You can do it, but I’m cool when I do it. I look cool. You didn’t look cool. You looked like a kid.”

The Celtics start a seven-game homestand on Friday, and armed with a Tour player, muscle milk God, and the kiss of death, hope to keep their streak rolling in Boston.

The post Boston Soundbites: Joe Mazzulla on His Relationship With Brad Stevens and Jayson Tatum’s ‘Kiss of Death’ appeared first on SLAM.

Deuce’s dad was dominant on national TV after dropping 44 points, nine rebounds, and six assists on 15-29 shooting, including 5-10 from downtown. Tatum scored 18 points in the second half, including 12 in the fourth quarter. Brown posted 25 points, 15 boards, five dimes, and three steals on 10-21 shooting and 3-7 shooting from beyond the arc.

“Games aren’t won or lost in the fourth quarter or overtime,” Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said per ESPN. “We have to be elite at managing the end of the third, beginning of the fourth quarter. That is where NBA games are won and lost, and we didn’t do a good job managing that part of the game. So we’ll take the positives of how we worked to get back in the game and then managed a run to end it, but we’ll also focus on that stretch.”

44 PTS | 9 REB | 6 AST | 5 3PM

Jayson Tatum was NEXT LEVEL as he battled LeBron and AD in the @celtics OT win! pic.twitter.com/0MchIYGSds

— NBA (@NBA) December 14, 2022

The monumental effort that the Double Jay’s had to exert left Tatum to tell Chris Haynes, “Damn, I’m tired,” on national TV during their postgame interview.

Easy to understand on a night when Boston surrounded a 20 point and allowed LA to go on a 45-12 run that led to a 13-point lead in the fourth-quarter. In response, Tatum made the Lakers defense look like it was in quick sand in the final frame, especially when he forced a switch agaisnt Matt Reaves. JT abused the mismatch and scored 12 points in the fourth quarter, but he ended up scoring the game-tying bucket against LeBron James to force overtime.

“To come back after blowing a lead a little bit, it shows the resilience of this team,” Brown told NBC Sports Boston’s Abby Chin. “We came back, we made some big plays, we didn’t let the wheel go when they came back and stormed back on us, and we made some big plays down the stretch. JT, Smart with a big 3, all of the above. So it just showed what we’re made of.”

And that’s why you never give up. pic.twitter.com/WT5trTuJTa

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) December 14, 2022

From there, Tatum and Brown combined to score seven of Boston’s 12 overtime points, with Brown knocking down the decisive triple to give Boston a an eight-point lead with 53.1 seconds left in the contest.

“That game just says a lot about our experience and mental toughness,” said Brown, who also had 15 rebounds. “That’s a tough and perfect way to close out our road trip.”

THIS IS WHAT JB DO pic.twitter.com/yTT6JJPCQO

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) December 14, 2022

Boston (22-7) looks to build a winnings streak when they take on the Orlando Magic (8-20) and LA (11-16) will look get backon track when they play the Denver Nuggets (16-10).

The post Jayson Tatum: ‘Damn I’m Tried’ After 44-Point Outing Against the Lakers appeared first on SLAM.

June 17, 2022.

The morning after.

The iPhone is downstairs, on the counter. The screen lights up every few seconds as texts pour in. They’ve been rolling in for hours. Those will go unanswered for a while. If answered at all. 

It’s only been a few hours since the 2022 NBA Finals ended, and the gut-wrenching feeling of knowing that he was a couple of wins away from claiming an NBA title is starting to sink in for Jayson Tatum. 

He spent much of the night staying up trying to process what had just happened, lying in bed upstairs and replaying some of the pivotal moments of the series against the Golden State Warriors in his head. 

His mother, Brandy, who lives next door, spent the late-night hours after the game and the next morning at his home, trying to get him to snap out of the mental funk. 

But nothing seemed to be working that night, or the next day, or the day after that. 

“The day after [when] you wake up, it’s like waking up from a bad dream and realizing that you’re not dreaming and that you actually, you know, you lost. How mentally and physically exhausting the season was, the playoffs, that series was, and you just, you don’t want to do anything, you don’t want to go anywhere, you don’t want to be seen, you don’t want to talk to anybody,” says Tatum. “I was miserable. I never got my heart broken, but I could imagine if somebody got their heart broken, or anything like that, that’s how it felt. When I got home, I didn’t even want to eat. Left my phone on the counter downstairs. I had hundreds of messages, people checking in on me, I just laid in the bed—it took me a long time to go to sleep. I was just laying there. I was mad, I was upset, I was exhausted. And I just stared at the ceiling for hours until I fell asleep. That night and the next day waking up, like, Damn, we really lost the championship.” 

“Very uncharacteristic [of Jayson]. Jayson is known for having a short memory. He can shake whatever off, good or bad, high or low. He normally doesn’t hang on to anything like that. But this was different…Everybody knows, I’ve gotten up at two in the morning if he’s hungry, especially [for] tacos. He didn’t want that. That’s when I knew it was serious,” says Brandy of one of Jayson’s go-to meals, which up to that point he had never turned down. “He didn’t want to be bothered. He didn’t want to talk. He was devastated. I understood. I know firsthand how much work he puts in.”

Although the season was over, Tatum found himself on the clock the morning after. A decision needed to be made.

SLAM 241 featuring Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum is out now.

For the past few years, Tatum and his fam have flown out of the country for Father’s Day weekend. It’s become an annual tradition. A way to unwind with loved ones as the summer kicks off and before he starts ramping up his preparation for the following season. But this spring, with the Celtics making a deep run into June, the family had not made any travel arrangements for the annual getaway. They had decided to wait it out. If the Finals went all the way to a Game 7, the decisive game would fall on Father’s Day. And if the Celtics closed out the Warriors earlier, the parade in Boston could very well fall on that weekend. 

But once Golden State won Game 6 in Boston, Jayson had about 48 hours to make a decision before Father’s Day and plan out an itinerary in order to keep the annual excursion alive. Except there was one problem: Jayson had no desire to step out anywhere that weekend, let alone go on a trip. He had decided to call off the tradition. He just couldn’t get himself to go on a vacation so soon after coming so close to helping Boston get its 18^th championship banner.   

Brandy, concerned, wanted to make sure that Jayson didn’t get too caught up in the loss and that he took the proper time to clear his head and unwind before he transitioned to offseason training. She knew it was important for him to take the trip now more than ever. But since Jayson was adamant about not going anywhere, she deployed the one thing she knew would work when all others failed: Deuce. 

“I just let him have his moment, his time, but once I felt like enough was enough, we’re not gonna sulk all summer, that’s when I used my secret weapon,” says Brandy of Deuce, Jayson’s 5-year-old son, who has become a celebrity of his own. “Deuce can win him down with anything. Deuce makes all things good, so I used my secret weapon—sent Deuce in there to ask him. It always works.” 

“It took some convincing, because I didn’t want to leave the house for a couple of days. I was glad I did. I think that’s the best part about being a dad, taking your mind off things [and] going out [of] the country with him. He’s 4 [at the time], so he doesn’t really know or, for lack of better words, care that we just lost. He wants me to help him build a sand castle and go swimming with him. In the midst of all of that, he kind of took my mind off things, especially so close to us just losing,” Tatum recalls. “He’s spoiled, he gets whatever he wants. So, him coming and asking me, Daddy, can we go somewhere? I want to go to the beach! It’s hard to say no. He ultimately got his way.” 

And so off to the Cayman Islands they went. Brandy says they ended up booking travel just 24 hours before the plane took off. And although he was no longer stateside, there was no escaping the Finals chatter, as Jayson soon found out. 

“Everywhere I went this summer, somebody mentioned something about the Finals,” he says. “Being in the Cayman Islands, four or five days afterward, everybody—whether it was the driver, or the waiter, or the other guests at the resort—it was nonstop. And not that they meant anything wrong by it. They were just true fans and they saw somebody that played in the Finals. But it was something I had to deal with every day of the summer.”

When he got back from the trip, Jayson immediately turned his focus to the upcoming season. He knew he wanted to approach the offseason very differently from past years. A focal point became his diet. He admits that up to this past summer, he was never truly conscious about what he ate and didn’t follow any kind of regimented diet. He ate whatever he pleased and then just went out there and earned All-NBA First Team last season. But the deep playoff run in 2022 made him reevaluate everything. It had taken a toll on him physically and mentally. He logged 983 minutes in the playoffs last season—the most minutes played in a single postseason since LeBron James played exactly 983 in 2012. Tatum played the most cumulative minutes overall last season, too, when factoring in the regular season: 3,714. It’s a testament to his ability to stay healthy, to be counted on to stay on the floor and play through pain and fatigue.

And although he’s not one to make excuses, we’ll do it for him here. After playing exceptionally well down the stretch in the regular season and carrying his team to the Finals, the wear and tear started to become noticeable in certain moments against the Warriors. He had run out of gas. A feeling he vows won’t ever happen again.  

“I really had a different mindset [this summer]—I knew what it took to get to the Finals and I know how much more it takes to get over that hump. And I need to separate myself. I need to do something different. I need for my summer to be different than it was last year and the year before that. I need to prepare better. I hired a chef. I started to eat better. Started working on my body even more than I previously was because I knew playing until June, your body has to be prepared for that,” he says. “First, coming into the League, I didn’t really have a routine. I ate whatever I wanted to and I just went out there and played basketball. But now I’m very routine-based, and even though I’m only 24, I’ve played a lot of basketball, so [I was] trying to find the different ways to give me an edge.”  

Tatum spends part of every summer training in L.A. It’s his own six-week training camp before the start of Celtics training camp. And being in sunny SoCal, he’s always tried to have some fun while out there. But Brandy, who stayed behind this year, says word quickly got back to her on the East Coast that Jayson was using his time in L.A. much differently this time around. This summer, it was all business.

“Everybody that was there, trainers, any friends that visit, everyone, they were calling and they were like, It’s something different [this year]. This is like bootcamp! He’s so locked in,” she recalls. 

Jayson adds: “It was like, I didn’t really have time for other things. I love to play golf [but] I didn’t play golf not one time when I was in L.A. Just ’cause after everything we did every day, by the time we got back to the house and watched some film, did treatment, put ice on my legs, it was six, seven o’clock. The sun is going down, I’m exhausted, and I’m just preparing to get ready for the next day. The guys that were with me, they could attest to it that this summer was just different. I was determined to not have that feeling again of losing in the Finals…That’s all I cared about coming into the season—getting back to that point and not feeling like that again.” 

The 6-8 star’s first five seasons in the NBA have arguably been as successful as anyone’s first five years in the League over the past decade. Three Conference Finals appearances—including his rookie year in 2018, where he came within one win of reaching the NBA Finals. A trip to the Finals in 2022, where he fell just short of capturing a championship against a team that will go down as one of the game’s dynasties. He’s made the playoffs every year of his career so far. He surpassed 1,500 career playoff points earlier this year. The only player in NBA history to do that at a younger age was Kobe Bryant.

But Tatum’s definition of success is different from the rest of us. In his mind, when it comes to this, there is no glass half-full. His competitive side won’t allow him to find solace in the deep playoff runs or record-breaking numbers. If anything, it’s had the opposite effect. 

“And that was the toughest part this summer, everybody coming up and saying, You’ll be back. You were so close. You made it to the Finals. And it’s like, only one team won last year, right? We got to the Finals but you come to our arena or practice facility, we only hang up banners if you win. No conference champions or division champions—we don’t care about those. You either win or you lose,” says Tatum. “And that’s the mindset that I have and the group has. So, it’s not like a moral victory. We play this game to win, and you’re never satisfied until you do.” 

Despite the NBA Finals run, the Celtics found themselves with lots of question marks coming into this season. The drama around the offseason coaching change—Tatum’s third head coach in three years—was one. Then a couple of their core guys—Danilo Gallinari and Robert Williams—suffered major injuries before opening night, adding extra obstacles to the list. The result? The Celtics have the best record in the NBA and they were in the midst of a nine-game winning streak when we did our cover shoot with Tatum. 

“I think with having a new head coach, along with Gallo tearing his ACL and not knowing when he’ll be able to come back, and Rob missing the first part of the season until he gets back, it obviously didn’t look how we thought it would look coming back into the season. But I think all those things in a way made us buckle down even more, made us come together, knowing that there was a lot of things stacked up against us,” Tatum admits. “And we coulda chalked it up to a new coach, we have guys out, we played late into the season, or we could really buckle down because nobody is going to feel bad for us. We got a target on our back every night, we’re going to get other teams’ best shot because they know we went to the championship and they know the talent level that we have. So, every night is going to be tough regardless of whatever their record is, home or away. I think that has made us a better team.” 

As for Tatum individually, he’s enjoying the best numbers of his career thus far, averaging a career-best 30.5 ppg. He’s also averaging career-highs in assists and blocks. After a 43-point, 10-rebound performance the night before our shoot in Detroit, a common phrase started trending next to his name on Twitter: MVP season. It’s a sentiment that has been repeated a lot more since, including by TV personalities. A few days after our shoot, Vegas had him as an early favorite to earn the honor. “It’s something me and [my trainer] Drew [Hanlen] talked a lot about this offseason. He was telling me, I really want you to be MVP this season. And I think, of course, growing up as a kid, winning MVP was a goal. You know, I want to get to the NBA, win an MVP, win a championship, all those things,” Tatum says. “But I more so approached this season as, I just want to play at an MVP level, which means I’m playing as one of the best players, playing efficiently [on] both ends of the ball, and we’re winning. We got one of the best records and we’re on pace to get back to where we were. And all that matters is that we do that and get over the hump. I would love to win MVP, of course, but I just want to play at that level…And that we remember how we felt when we came up short, and that we’ll do whatever it takes not to feel that way again.”

SLAM 241 Gold Metal Edition and Cover Tees are available now. Tap in.

Portraits by Marcus Stevens.

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Mazzulla has also earned the respect of the players on the Celtics roster, who have responded well and have been ‘all-in’ on their new coach.

“The thing I appreciated most was that he wasn’t going to try to be somebody he wasn’t because he was in a new role,” said Celtics star Jayson Tatum in a recent interview with Andscape. “He was very transparent. He said this was new for him, and it was going to be new for everybody. It wasn’t something that we were just going to move on and forget about. It was going be tough and a transition that everyone was going to be comfortable talking about.”

Mazzulla recently sat down to talk about his upbringing, coaching style, and how he prepared himself for his latest role as the head honcho of the Celtics. One of the first things everyone wanted to know was what was going through Mazzulla’s mind when he was first named to be Celtics interim coach;

“I’ve always had faith that I was going to be an NBA head coach,” answered Mazzulla. “I believed in myself, but I didn’t know it was going to happen this fast. I didn’t know it was going to happen in Boston. But I kind of felt it that it would happen at some point. At least, I had hope that it would.”

Given the Celtics’ rich championship-winning history and big-name head coaches of the past, Mazzulla was asked where his confidence came from;

“It’s developed over time. I think my dad and my mom, they had a huge influence on me as far as my mental preparation. As far as what’s your mindset on a daily basis, how do you navigate the world around you? And as a player, I wasn’t great. I thought I was a tough kid, but I didn’t have true mental toughness. I didn’t handle adversity well. I didn’t have great self-awareness. I didn’t have great self-management. I couldn’t self-regulate a lot. And so, when I got into coaching, I made a huge investment into that emotional intelligence and that mental preparation and how you navigate everything that’s going on around you. So, that’s helped.”

When asked if he felt any added pressure being the coach of such a historic franchise, Mazzulla responded by saying;

“There’s no real pressure. To me, you just have a responsibility. I have a responsibility to the Celtics, to the tradition, to the players, to the organization, the owners, to just do whatever you got to do to give this team and this organization the best chance to win another banner. And you just can’t stop until that happens. To me, it’s just a responsibility. And when I’m in moments of that, the only thing I can focus on is how do I execute. How do I just execute the next situation that I’m in?”

Mazzulla is definitely making the most of his opportunity right now and knows that whether he’s interim or coach in the NBA, either title can be taken away at any time. That being said, we should all be excited to see what Mazzulla and his Celtics do as the season progresses.

The post Joe Mazzulla Says He ‘Always Believed’ He Would Become an NBA Head Coach appeared first on SLAM.

As this team marches on, Marcus Smart and currently rehabbing Robert Williams are set to rejoin the squad soon after suffering minor setbacks from injury. When the Celtics are at 100%, there’s no telling how far they can go.

In the postgame press conference after the win, Brown told NBC Sports that he envisions Boston returning to the NBA Finals.

“I want to get to the playoffs, and I want to show what I can do there,” said the Celtics star. “I think I could play with the best of them. I know what my capabilities are, but my emphasis right now is on winning games and leading this team back to the Finals. So that’s where my point of emphasis is. Anything else that comes along, whatever — I’m really focused on getting us back to the NBA Finals.”

Boston has significantly improved since losing in the NBA Finals in June. They currently have the best offensive rating in the League at 120.7, according to statmuse.com. New acquisitions like Malcolm Brogdon and Blake Griffin have unlocked another gear for this team.

Grant Williams is one of the League leaders in three-point accuracy, hitting triples at an incredible 46 percent. Last but not least, to put the icing on the cake, Jayson Tatum is playing at an MVP level. He’s averaging 30.7 points and 8.1 rebounds on 48.1 percent shooting, which are all career highs for the 24-year-old. It’s safe to say that the Celtics’ revenge tour is in full effect.

The Celtics will try and repeat the same success they had against the Nets on Monday when they face the Toronto Raptors at 7:30 p.m.

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The Lakers took on the Washington Wizards on the road, and Davis was in his bag as he went off for 55 points on 22-30 shooting from the field (73.3 percent), 17 rebounds, and three blocks. With yesterday’s performance, Davis now joins Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal as the only two Lakers in team history to record 40+ points and 10+ rebounds in back-to-back games.

He’s also the first Laker to score 40 points in back-to-back games since Kobe Bryant did it in 2013. Davis’ season-high effort had the road crowd chanting MVP, and his teammates backed it up with their post-game comments;

“Jayson Tatum is playing his a** off, but when you’re talking about people in the MVP race or category, that probably will change after tonight,” Lakers guard Patrick Beverley told ESPN. “Davis should be up there for sure.”

LeBron James also chimed in with his thoughts on Davis and the MVP race, stating;

“He’s been unbelievable, man, on both sides of the floor, I mean, playing like the MVP of this league. Just straight dominance.”

When Davis was asked if his goals this season included winning his first MVP award, he said his main goal is to win a championship and that “the rest will take care of itself.”

“To win a championship, that’s it. If your mindset is on winning a championship, the rest will take care of itself. That’s always been my thought. I put the team first over any individual awards or accolades that come with it. So if we continue to do what we do and win basketball games, the rest will take care of itself.”

It’s great to see AD showcasing his true potential and talent out there on the court again after battling a series of nagging injuries. Laker nation, hold on to your seats because it looks like the LakeShow is coming back!

The post Anthony Davis Is Focused On Titles: ‘the Rest Will Take Care of Itself’ appeared first on SLAM.

Check it out below.

To celebrate the history, legacy and future of the Duke Men’s Basketball program, we’ve got an entire special collector’s issue dedicated to The Brotherhood. SLAM Presents DUKE is available now.

The post Jon Scheyer Says He Was Dropping Buckets Against NBA Players This Summer appeared first on SLAM.

Also, if you’re not in the LeagueFits Discord yet, you gotta tap in. It’s been too much fun seeing everyone’s fit pics and latest cops.

The post WHERE DO I COP? The 11 Best Pieces Featured on LeagueFits This Week (12/2) appeared first on SLAM.

Butler averaged 25.6 points per game in that series while shooting 47 percent from the field. Butler was clearly on a whole other level in that series, including a 47-point Game 6 performance in TD Garden to force a Game 7 back in Miami.

The Heat and Celtics have matched up in the playoffs twice in the past two years, with Miami getting the best of Boston in 2019-2020 and Boston beating the Heat last year.

So far this year, the Heat (10-12) haven’t looked like themselves, as they currently sit in 11th place in the East. On the flip side, you look at the Boston Celtics, which seem to be clicking on all cylinders. They sit in first place in the Eastern Conference standings with a record of 18-4 and are winners of their last five straight games.

The two teams recently played an exhibition together this past Wednesday, but the undermanned Heat was no match for the healthy Celtics and ended up losing 134-121. Celtics star Jayson Tatum went off for a season-high 49 points as well.

Butler took to his Instagram story yesterday with a little hype-up video giving Heat fans hope and Celtics fans flashbacks to last year, saying he is “on the way.” Hopefully, Butler’s return helps to change the course of this Heat team’s record and shifts the momentum to a positive one going into the All-Star break.

We’ll have to wait and see if the Heat can start the month of December off strong.

The post Jimmy Butler’s Message to Boston Ahead of Friday Matchup: ‘I’m On the Way’ appeared first on SLAM.

Taco Jay is on a rampage, and he’s launched himself to the top of the MVP race. Wednesday, Tatum dropped a season-high 49 points on 8-12 threes and 15-25 shooting from the floor in a 134-121 win over the Miami Heat. TD Garden lauded the guard’s stellar performance with MVP chants.

“That means everything,” Tatum said per NBC Sports Boston about the MVP chants during the game. “That’s something I’ve dreamed about as a kid, and to hear it in front of our home crowd from the best fans in the world, it holds a special place in my heart.”

“I love this place, I love being here, and hearing that during the game gives you chills.”

Leading the No. 1 ranked Celtics with 31.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game, Tatum is locked in as an early-season MVP candidate. 

The C’s are a League-best 18-4 a quarter of the way into the season, and they are hungry as ever following their Finals run.

Tatum has been vocal about the devastation he felt following Boston’s Finals loss to the Warriors and the subsequent motivation he and the Celtics’ have to get back to the championship round and ultimately win a championship. 

While Tatum’s first five seasons with the Celtics were riddled with inconsistency, injuries, and both roster and front-office changes, the C’s may have finally found their footing. Undoubtedly their most consistent and confident start to the season, the Celtics rely on an unusual metaphor to stay locked-in day after day: the sandcastle.

Every time the Celtics enter the film room, head coach Joe Mazzulla has a picture or video of sand castles up. The “cheesy” message is that you build great sandcastles on vacation, but when you leave the beach, the tide inevitably comes in and washes the sandcastle away. So the next day, you arrive at the beach, and you build another sandcastle. 

The C’s are focused on being a one-win-at-a-time team. They are trying to show up each day and build the best sandcastle they can. 

“It’s a choice that we’ve got to make every day when we come in and try to be the best version of ourselves — and knowing that it’s never going to be easy,” Tatum said per MSN. “We’re always going to get the other team’s best shot.”

An 18-4 record and a dominant win over an Eastern Conference rival in Miami don’t mean much to Boston today. That record and that win were yesterday. The tide came in, washed the win away, and left a fresh beach for Boston to build another great sandcastle. 

The Celtics refuse to be complacent. They refuse to be satisfied. Until they win Banner 18, it’s “done, next” for the C’s.

Boston faces the Heat again tomorrow night and looks to add another W to their win column.

The post Records and Sandcastles: An MVP Candidate and Unique Mindset Keep the Celtics Rolling appeared first on SLAM.

However, the promotion of Joe Mazzulla has helped Boston become an offensive juggernaut with the top-rated (118.8) offense in the League. The only question to solve is how to get Boston to regain their defensive dominance; as of Wednesday, the Celtics hold a 112.5 defensive rating, good for 19th.

After Marcus Smart (22 points, five rebounds, eight assists on 8-12 shooting) helped lead Boston to a gritty, come-from-behind, seventh-straight win over the Oklahoma City Thunder, it’s clear that the vibes are immaculate in Beantown. During his postgame interview, Smart said, “last year around this time, we would have lost this game.”

We never stopped believing and pulled off a big comeback against OKC for our seventh straight win pic.twitter.com/p2byTNFvzw

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) November 15, 2022

But that was last year, this season, Boston has shown maturity and veteran polish after their run to the Finals. Although the Celtics were outplayed for the first 36 minutes of the game, Smart refed to let Boston’s win streak end. Smart dropped 10 points and four assists and hit the lead-clinching three-pointer after he checked in with 8:03 left in the game.

“It feels amazing,” Smart said, per NBC Sports. “We had a lot of stuff going on early in the season with us. A lot of controversy, a lot of expectations for us, a lot of obstacles to overcome. And we just continue to keep fighting, trusting one another, and keep going.”

Now that's how you break the zone @smart_MS3 found @jaytatum0 for the jam in tonight's @JetBlue Play of the Game pic.twitter.com/Qfk6a6u2cJ

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) November 15, 2022

Because of Smart, timely contributions from Peyton Pritchard and Derrick White, and the team-high 27 points, five rebounds, and eight assists effort from MVP candidate superstar Jayson Tatum, the Boston Celtics stole a feel-good win heading into a three-game road trip.

“Everybody contributed,” Tatum said. “D-White and Payton off the bench giving that spark at the end of the third, beginning of fourth, that really willed us to that comeback. So I was extremely proud of the way that we responded, the way that we competed, and figured it out.

“It wasn’t pretty. Obviously, some things we wish we could have done better, but that’s a talented team, and that’s a good win.”

Boston begins their road trip against Atlanta (9-5).

The post Marcus Smart On the Positive Vibes in Boston: ‘It Feels Amazing’ appeared first on SLAM.

On Saturday, Boston defeated the Detroit Pistons 117-108 in a game where the Celtics star seemed almost unstoppable, erupting for 43 points. After the game, when asked whether or not he felt like he was the MVP at this early point of the season, the 24-year-old did not hold back.

“I mean, I think I am,” Tatum told Yahoo Sports. “It’s a long season. Every time I step on the floor, I feel like I’m the best player. But it’s a lot of talented guys in this League – It’s (MVP) measured by team success. We have 69 games left. The key is staying healthy, keep playing the way we’re playing and see what happens.”

Boston is currently second in the Eastern Conference, only trailing Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks. Tatum is a clear MVP candidate, but if the Celtics can remain one of the top teams in the League as the season goes on, he will have a case to be the clear-cut favorite.

Winning such an accolade has undoubtedly been one of his dreams since he was a kid, he clarified on Saturday; however, the goal of winning a championship is what’s most important to him right now. 

“As a kid, was one of my dreams winning MVP? Sure,” Tatum said. “If it happened, it would be a dream come true. But it wasn’t, like, ‘Come back, win MVP.’ It’s like, ‘Come back, get to the championship.’”

The post Jayson Tatum Says Possibly Winning MVP ‘Would Be A Dream Come True’ appeared first on SLAM.

However, Boston’s All-Star duo changed that narrative and blossomed into the mature stars that Celtics fans had been hoping for since 2010 when they beat the Miami Heat to advance to the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors.

A credit to their dynamic run was the message shared by former teammate Kemba Walker, who spent time with the team from 2019-2021. During an appearance on NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski’s podcast, Walker talked about the importance of the duo playing team basketball in order to reach new heights.

“They’ve always seen the talks and people saying they can’t play together. But I always just tried to tell them, ‘Just block that out,'” said Walker. “I always told them, ‘This organization ain’t going nowhere without you two.’ Literally.”

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The two frankly needed each to go on the journey they did last season. In the games Brown missed, the team went 8-8; without Tatum, the Celtics had a record of 2-4.

Of course, the stud defensive unit of Al Horford, Marcus Smart, and Robert Williams may have contributed to a portion of those victories, but the team certainly doesn’t match the post-season threats of a Brooklyn Nets or Milwaukee Bucks without the star power and intangibles of Tatum and Brown.

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“My main thing to those guys was that they had to love each other,” said Walker. “Those two guys, Jayson and Jaylen — you two guys have to come together as much as you can and lead this team to the promised land. They can’t go anywhere without those two guys. Those two guys are so special, and they’ve shown it.”

The chemistry they’ve developed has grown into this season, as the Celtics currently have an 8-3 record, tying the Cleveland Cavaliers for the second-best in the conference.

The road towards another shot at a championship remains long for the Celtic. If Tatum and Brown still look to win the ultimate prize, they must still consider the leadership-quality messages of Walker.

The post Kemba Walker: Boston ‘Won’t Go Anywhere’ Without Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown appeared first on SLAM.

We’ll have to wait and see what happens, but for now, here are seven takeaways from last night’s action.

Revenge SZN: Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are looking even better

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have been a nightmare for teams on both sides of the ball for a few years now. They have three ECF trips under their belt and a recent appearance in the NBA Finals — they’re not supposed to still be getting better. After showing up to opening night rockin’ some pretty eye-catching fits, Brown and Tatum dropped a combined 70 points (dropping 35 points apiece) and solidified the dub over Philly.

Both were attacking from every part of the floor. Having two dynamic players like Brown and Tatum gives the Celtics a good chance to get back to the Finals and maybe even win it this time. 

Ring Night: The Warriors may be poised to make another championship run

On ring night, the Warriors look good. Damn good. Stephen Curry is still just as good as he’s always been, and the Warriors’ weapons all kept them afloat and out of reach. The Dubs had their trademark explosive third quarter, and signature contributions from Klay Thompson, Jordan Poole, Curry, and Andrew Wiggins on offense guided them to a win. Draymond Green and Kevon Looney anchored a strong defensive performance. Their young core (Moses Moody, James Wiseman, Jonathan Kuminga) came in off the bench and provided valuable minutes. Sheesh, the Warriors are deep. 

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The Beard drops a 30-piece on Opening Night

James Harden has been a picture of perfect health for the majority of his NBA career, but during his tenure with the Nets, and leading into his tenure with the Sixers, Harden was dealing with a nagging hamstring injury that sapped away a lot of his explosiveness and his ability to change speeds that made him so difficult to contain during his days in Houston. Houston Harden showed up in Boston last night for Philadelphia.

He finished the game with 35 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists on 64.2 percent shooting from the field and 12/12 shooting from the line. Some may say vintage Harden; we say he’s back. 

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LeBron James speaks on Lakers’ Shooting Troubles:

The Los Angeles Lakers Big 3 finished with 77 of 109 points as the remainder of the team struggled to score all game with their limited spacing. Russell Westbrook, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis also shot a combined 4-16 from three, while the Lakers as a whole shot 10-40. After the game, The King was quick to recognize this deficiency in the Lakers’ offense, citing a lack of “lasers.”

Moving forward, the Lakers need better shooting performances if they do not want to repeat their fate from last season. 

Honoring No. 7: Jaylen Brown Speaks on Bill Russell’s Legacy

The legendary Bill Russell, and 11-time NBA Champion (twice as a head coach of the Celtics), passed away this past summer. The Boston Celtics legend had his No. 6 retired around the League, and every team is wearing a “6” patch on their jersey to honor him. The Celtics took each step, however, intent on honoring their greatest player. Jaylen Brown took a few moments to commemorate Bill Russell before the game, honoring him as a player, a father, a leader, and a man. 

Coaching Debuts of Mazzulla and Ham:

Darvin Ham and Joe Mazzulla both made their head coaching debuts on opening night. Mazzulla won his first game, and Ham lost his. Mazzulla is an interim head coach, for now, following Ime Udoka’s season-long suspension by the Boston Celtics.

Near the end of their contest against the Celtics, Stan Van Gundy joked that Mazzulla now has the best winning percentage in NBA history. This is true and looks to remain true, at least through his next game. Ham, on the other hand, has the tall task of coaching a veteran Lakers team back to promise. There are some positive takeaways to be had from the team’s performance but look for tweaks in the next few games as they look to find their footing. 

FREE BG 

October 18th marked the beginning of the NBA season, but it was also Britney Griner’s 32nd birthday. Stephen Curry took some time to bring awareness to her wrongful incarceration in Russia during his direct address to the fans in attendance as well as the fans watching on TV at home. The fight for Griner’s freedom continues to be a major point of emphasis as the season begins. 

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The post 7 Takeaways From Opening Night appeared first on SLAM.

Afterward, the Boston locker erupted in joy as they gave Mazzulla a customary water bottle shower to celebrate the first win of his career and team owner Wyz Grousbeck gave Mazzulla the game ball. The locker room commemoration was a fantastic moment for a team dealing with controversy after Ime Udoka was suspended for violating team rules days before training camp started.

“I’m grateful for the relationship we have,” Mazzulla said, per ESPN. “These guys have been through a lot together, and they’re great players. So it’s just a matter of working together. So I appreciate their trust and buy-in, but they come up with a lot of good stuff as well, and we kind of just figure it out.”

On a mission. : @sammironko pic.twitter.com/5aZy88VquF

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) October 19, 2022

Boston opened the season with a win due to their speed and quickness over Philadelphia. The Celtics outscored the 76ers 24-2 on the fast break and were torching the nets over the final 36 minutes as they shot over 60 percent from the field to erase an early Philly eight-point lead.

“Pace is the virtue of this team,” Grant Williams (15 points) said. “We have a bunch of guys that can bring it, a bunch of guys that are playmakers for one another, and we trust everybody. We trust everybody to make the right decision, to make the right read, to make the right play. So that’s why we keep the ball ahead, and we play freely. That encourages players to be who they are and that allows a lot of freedom and opportunity. It makes everybody a threat.”

Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum became the first pair or teammates to each score 35+ plus during a season-opener since Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West did it for the Lakers in 1996. Tatum added 10 rebounds on the night and became the first Celtic to drop 35 and 10 during the first game of a season since Paul Pierce did it in 2004.

The last Boston Celtics to drop 35+ points and 10+ rebounds in the first game of a season:

Paul Pierce (11/3/2004)
Jayson Tatum (10/18/2022) pic.twitter.com/bJkUacfiKQ

— NBA History (@NBAHistory) October 19, 2022

The Celtics were filled with praise for Mazzulla during post-game interviews. Offseason trade acquisition Malcolm Brogdon complimented Mazzola for his even-keeled demeanor, Marcus Smart (14 points and seven assists) said it’s apparent the interim coach is “oozing” with confidence, and Brown said he’s “tough as nails.”

“He wouldn’t have took any of the credit for tonight, but the thing that I like about Joe and admire about him is that he’s very honest that he doesn’t know everything,” Tatum said. “He wants us to help him out as much as he’s helping us out. It’s like we’re in a relationship, and we’re all on the same page and trying to accomplish the same thing. We’re all in this together.”

Fly high. : @sammironko pic.twitter.com/x9AzxZGrv7

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) October 19, 2022

After their convincing opening night victory over Philly, it looks like Boston will be going about the season like it’s business despite a messy start to the season. Boston’s All-Star wing duo of Tatum and Brown will remain dominant, they’ll be reliant on their speed, quickness, and length to rev up their offense and defense, and Boston will continue to play with the intensity that helped fuel their run to the 2022 NBA Finals.

The most important thing to understand is that Mazzulla seems to have gotten a resounding endorsements from the Celtics players. This season, that’ll be the most important difference in whether or not they can replicate their success from last season.

“It was a proud moment,” Mazzulla said. “I think it started with the Bill Russell ceremony and just talking to the team about the legacy he left on and off the court and the responsibility we carry to be able to hold that and build our own legacy.

“I think at the end of the game, the ‘Let’s go, Celtics’ chant, we picked up right where we left off. I pride myself in the Boston fans and the city of Boston, and when they’re cheering for you, it means you’re doing something right.”

The post Celtics ‘All in’ On Joe Mazzulla After Gifting Him First Win of His Coaching Career appeared first on SLAM.

“Definitely not a good feeling that I’ll never forget,” Tatum said per Sports Illustrated.

He shot 36.7 percent from the field in the Finals, down from 45.3 percent in the regular-season. The 2021-2022 NBA season was an eight-month slog for Boston, and after a rocky start, they almost came out on top. Tatum was exhausted toward the end of their run. Tatum went from averaging 35.9 minutes a night during the regular-season to playing 41.0 per game during the playoffs.

The physical tool he took manifested into a fractured wrist that forced Tatum to tape his wrist during games and a soft cast off the court, only taking it off when there were cameras around. When the Finals concluded with a Game 6 loss to the Warriors, Tatum went ghost for nearly two weeks, according to his trainer Drew Hanlen.

“I was exhausted. Didn’t feel like talking to anybody. Didn’t feel like being bothered. It’s hard to explain if you’ve never been in that situation but losing a championship was fucking miserable,” Tatum said on why he didn’t hit up Hanlen for two weeks after the Game 6 loss. 

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After the two-week sabbatical, Tatum went to work on improving his game.

Per Hanlen, Tatum was “intense’ during workout sessions and “became obsessed with winning.” Hanlen said he didn’t lose a one-on-one game all summer and famously barked at his teammates when they fell 0-2 during a five-on-five session. After winning their third game of the session, Tatum and his teammates went undefeated for the rest of the day.

weekend work pic.twitter.com/Ov23iLkMgd

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) October 9, 2022

He also wanted to improve his burst while attacking the rim to create contact and put more pressure on defenders. He was only fouled on 9.8 of his total drives. He adjusted his posture, embracing a lower base on his face-up. He tried to find ways to combat fatigue by changing his diet and increasing his conditioning drills. He shot hundreds of floaters.

He picked the mind of frequent workout partner and future Hall-of-Famer Kevin Durant. Tatum studied Durant’s ability to protect the ball, mainly how Durant uses his hips and shoulders to shield the ball from defenders and can protect it when he attacks the rim. Durant also gave Tatum advice on his hesitation dribble and side-step jumper.

“I’m still young enough where I feel like I can learn from a lot of guys,” Tatum said. “And he’s one of the best to ever do it.” 

Despite his expected increased role, Tatum seems to be looking forward to the opportunity to improve on the Celtics’ dee 2022 playoff run in this upcoming season, and this time, he hopes he can take the lessons he learned this summer with him. 

The post How Jayson Tatum Attacked the Offseason Following Boston’s Finals Loss appeared first on SLAM.

“So, I just wanted to go relax. Long season, clearly,” Tatum said in an interview with Andscape. “Enjoy some time with my son and the family. Get away from it. The Finals were so fresh in my mind.

And every time we walked out the room, somebody saw me and said, ‘Oh, man, we wish you would’ve … ’ ‘Good luck next year.’ And that’s even said to this day. But it was just three or four days afterwards, so it was really fresh.”

Two seasons after being eliminated from the Eastern Conference Finals by the Miami Heat in 2020, the Celtics came back this past season to win a pivotal Game 7 in Miami to clinch their first NBA Finals berth since 2010.

“It was just a learning experience, learning a lesson,” he added. “Maybe do some things differently next time if you get to that point. Obviously, it’s tough to learn a lesson that way, but it is what it is …It just fuels you. Motivates you to get back to that point.”

While Tatum has using the moment as “fuel,” his all-around game is enough to catch the attention of even his own competitors. Four-time NBA champion and Warriors forward Draymond Green recently called JT the ‘Young GOAT.’

“Resiliency allows teams to show their true characters,” said Green on The Draymond Green Show. “We’ll get to see the true character of the Boston Celtics led by none other than the young GOAT, young next greatest Jayson Tatum.”

The post Jayson Tatum Reveals How He’s Processed NBA Finals Loss Against Warriors appeared first on SLAM.

While the Celtics have seasoned veterans in Marcus Smart and Al Horford – Smart is the Celtics’ longest-tenured player, having played eight seasons in Green, and Horford has now been in the League for 15 years – Tatum is “the guy”. Tatum averaged 25.6 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 6.2 assists in the 2022 playoffs, leading the Celtics to their first NBA finals since 2010.

“I might not be the loudest guy, especially in front of the camera,” Tatum said. “But for the guys in that locker room, when we’re in practice or on the plane or on the court, my presence is felt in my voice. We all put a lot into this game, so we all have the right to give input to each other. That’s all I try to do when I see something, try to help guys out.”

The Celtics battled past the Nets, Bucks, and Heat, before falling short to the Warriors. Horford said Tatum “took a huge step” as a leader during their Finals run.

“I feel like that confidence is kind of going to carry over this year,” Horford said. “And we’re going to continue to see more of that from him.”

Riding off of his leadership throughout the 2022 playoffs and having gained a deeper understanding of the mountain it takes the win a championship, the superstar has made his leadership presence and voice known during this year’s training camp.

“He does a lot of talking, pulling guys aside, seeing how we can get the best look and whatever it might be,” Derrick White said. “So [you] definitely see that maturity and the growth that he’s doing.”

“He wants to win. It’s always good to follow guys that want to win.”

Led by Tatum and interim head coach Joe Mazulla, the Celtics begin another trophy-hunt season on Oct. 18 vs. the Sixers. 

The post Jayson Tatum Impressing Celtics Teammates With His Leadership Growth appeared first on SLAM.

Udoka will be away from the team while he serves his season-long suspension for “violations of team policies.”

With such a chaotic situation right before Media Day, of course, players were going to be asked their thoughts about it. When Jayson Tatum was asked when he found out about Udoka’s suspension, Tatum said he learned what had happened in real-time just like everybody else through Twitter. According to Brain Robb, Tatum also said that Udoka’s suspension was “a lot to process.”

Tatum said he hasn’t spoken to Udoka since the suspension was handed down, but he’s excited to get on the court for training camp and get back to playing basketball.

“We were all kind of caught off guard,” Tatum said

Tatum: "You read the statement, you watch the press conference, apparently there are a lot of things they can’t speak about. I’m kind of in the same boat. I don’t know. It’s hard for me to answer if things were handled in the right way or they weren’t … I just don’t know."

— Chris Mannix (@SIChrisMannix) September 26, 2022

While a head coach controversy is not the way any team wants to start their season, it seems that Tatum as a whole is not letting this sidetrack his or the team’s goals for this season. In an interview per NBC Sports, Tatum spoke about what he learned from the Celtic’s 2022 NBA Finals run.

“It’s extremely tough to even get to that point; not many people have even gotten there,”. Tatum continues. “You think about (we) sweep the Nets, and go seven with Milwaukee that could’ve obviously gone the other way, then seven with the Heat if Jimmy Butler made that shot, we could not have been in the championship, then you know getting to that point and then accomplishing the goal, it’s hard to put in words, it’s tough.”

Tatum also told NBC Sports that he’s heading into year six with that “plan of things that you like you can do differently.”

“Approaching the off-season with a plan of things that you feel like you can do differently coming into next season so that you know you’re more than capable of going all the way.”

Heading into his uncertain year with the Celtics, it looks like Tatum is more ready and eager to take that next step individually as well as a team.

The post Jayson Tatum On Ime Udoka’s Suspension and What He Learned During Boston’s Finals Run appeared first on SLAM.

Mazzulla joined the Celtics in 2019 and worked as an assistant coach on Brad Stevens’ staff. When Stevens became general manager and Udoka took over as head coach, Mazzulla was one of the few assistant coaches to stay in Boston. According to Udoka, the players gave him “glowing reviews”.

“I love Joe,” Jayson Tatum said per NBC Sports. “I think just being around him for the last, I think this is his third year, maybe second or third year, you can tell how passionate he is about the guys and his craft. And he’s gotten so much more knowledgeable, and more detailed, and more vocal, and more comfortable in his role as a coach. You’ve seen the growth from his first year, and he’s helped me out tremendously as a player and a person. So, can’t say enough good things about Joe, and everybody appreciates what he brings to this team, and I’m glad that we have him.”

In 2021, Mazzulla was the head coach of the Celtics Summer League team, and earlier this summer, Mazzulla was promoted to lead assistant coach when Will Hardy left to coach the Utah Jazz.

The Celtics open their season on Oct. 18 against the Sixers as defending Eastern Conference champs.

The post REPORT: Joe Mazzulla Likely to Become Boston’s Interim Head Coach appeared first on SLAM.

While speaking with Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks, Tatum revealed that he was playing with a “small” wrist fracture over the last two months of the season.

“It was small, but it was still like a non-displaced chip. So like, I chipped a bone, but it didn’t leave the surface,” Tatum said.

“But it had shown that the bone had grew over it, so it healed. But I was still in pain because I kept getting hit or falling on it. So I guess I played with somewhat of a fracture for like two months.” 

"I played with somewhat of a fracture for two months"

Jayson Tatum opens up about playing through an undisclosed injury during the playoffs in live interview with Taylor Rooks in B/R app pic.twitter.com/kt7xZCV36W

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) August 21, 2022

Tatum said he aggravated the injury during the playoffs against the Bucks when Giannis Antetokounmpo fouled him on a dunk attempt in Game 3.

“Then in the playoffs, there was a play against Milwaukee in Game 3. I dunked it, Giannis (Antetokounmpo) chased me down and fouled me, and I fell into the crowd,” the Celtics’ star continued. “That was the most painful it’s been since that day that I hurt it. I ended up getting a cortisone shot in my wrist that night, and you could see it. I’ve lost color in my hand because it kills the fat cells, and there’s not a lot of fat in my hand, so I’ve lost color right there. After each game, I would have to wear a brace to shootaround, and I would take it off before the cameras saw me.” 

Tatum averaged 25.6 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 6.2 assists per game during the Celtics’ run to the Finals. When he got to the Finals, it seemed as though the wear and tear of his heavy minute load and wrist injury contributed to Tatum averaging 21.5 points per game on 36.7 percent shooting from the field while committing a Finals-record 23 turnovers.

The post Jayson Tatum Reveals He Played With a Wrist Facture ‘For Two Months’ appeared first on SLAM.

Their featured superstar, Jayson Tatum, has let the six-game series loss to the Warriors inspire him to want to reach greater heights for the upcoming regular-season campaigns. Although his Finals debut didn’t end the way he expected, Tatum has used the loss and his time off to reflect on what he had learned from the process.

“(I learned) that I’m 24 and one of the best players in the world and that I will compete against whoever and take on that challenge,” Tatum said via The Athletic. “In that same breath, I feel like there’s so much I could be better at, and I think that’s the exciting part. That I’m at where I’m at, where there’s so much more I can be, so much more I can learn, and so many more experiences to go through.”

Strong words from the budding superstar who has reached top 10 status in the NBA but sees himself (and the team) getting better over time.

“It’s not a ‘for sure’ thing, you know. You have to put in the work. You have to take the right steps,” Tatum said. “But I’m positive that we got the right group that will buy-in, and we can’t look past anything and just try to coast our way to the finals. We gotta start from training camp.”

Tatum and the Celtics are ready to go at training camp to make it back to the Finals, hopefully holding the Larry O’Brien trophy in their clutches.

The post Jayson Tatum Opens Up About Lessons He Learned from the NBA Finals appeared first on SLAM.

Banchero joins a Jordan Brand family that includes Chris Paul, Bradley Beal, Luka Doncic, Carmelo Anthony, Bam Adebayo, Jayson Tatum, Russell Westbrook, and of course, Michael Jordan.

Banchero was grinding in the Summer League with the Zion 2s and Air Jordan 36s this year.

Banchero played two Summer League games before Orlando decided to shut him down. In those two contests, Banchero showed why he was the top overall pick coming out of Duke as he averaged 20 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 6.0 assists per game.

Banchero won ACC Rookie of the Year and was a consensus first-team All-American after scoring 17.2 points a game during his lone season at Duke.

The post REPORT: Paolo Banchero Finalizing Endorsement Deal With Jordan Brand appeared first on SLAM.

“I played with [Durant] during the Olympics,” Tatum said Tuesday night prior to the premiere, per ESPN. “Obviously, he’s a great player, but that’s not my decision. I love our team. I love the guys that we got.”

Tatum also goes onto say that he doesn’t wear the hat of the general manager, and doesn’t “make anything” of the reports of Boston entering the race for KD.

“We got two new pieces [in Malcolm Brogdon and Danilo Gallinari],” Tatum said. “I love our team. I just go out there and play with my teammates. I don’t put that [general manager] hat on to make decisions.”

The Celtics reportedly offered Jaylen Brown up as the centerpiece for the acquisition of Kevin Durant, but the rumor was “rejected.” Many are speculating that Brown’s latest tweet was in reaction to the rumors.

Durant’s agent Rich Kleiman did not comment on the trade rumors after he and Durant made an appearance at the premier of “Point Gods.” Durant also did not answer any questions.

The post Jayson Tatum Responds to Kevin Durant Rumors appeared first on SLAM.

One of the main leaders on that team, Tony Parker, one-third of the Spurs Big Three that helped deliver four championships to San Antonio, believes that with Coach Ime Udoka leading from the sidelines, the Boston Celtics can make up for their heartbreaking Finals loss to the Golden State Warriors. It all starts with allowing 2022 to serve as a motivator to the ultimate goal of not only making it back to the Finals but winning it all.

“For the Celtics,” Parker said per The Athletic, “that’s what they have to do.”

“He was with us in those years,” Parker said. “So he can definitely take some stuff from what we had to go through. I played with him as teammates and had him as a coach. He’s been through everything with us, so he knows better than anybody how to bounce back from a tough NBA Finals loss.”

There are some big differences between those Spurs and these Celtics. For one, the core of the Celtics are all under 30, with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown being 24 and 25-years-old respectively. The Spurs championship core were all well into their 30s execpt Kawhi Leonard, who won his first Finals MVP that season but was yet to become the lethal scorer he is today.

The main thing that the Celtics will have to do is continue to play like they did from the flip into 2022 until the end of the regular season, finishing the season fifth in assists per 100 posessions and forming the top-ranked defense in the Legue. Being able to lean into team play will allow the Celtics to not allow offensive lapses like they did during their run to the Finals and over the final four of the championship series against the Warriors.

Both Udoka and team president have stated that they want to see the Celtics play with “a little bit more movement,” on the court. Being able to replicate what the Spurs did during their 2014 title run will be difficult, espcially with two wings that are deadly in isolation, but in order Boston to hang their record 18th title, they might have to sacrifice those points in order to accomplish their ultimate goal.

“For me, the way we lost in 2013, it created what happened in 2014,” Parker said. “Maybe one of the best finals in NBA history. Maybe the best Spurs basketball that we played. In 2014, the way we played, the passing game, everything, we were maybe at the highest level of my whole career. It started with a tough loss in 2013.”

The post Tony Parker Thinks Boston Can Avenge Finals Loss Like Spurs Did in 2014 appeared first on SLAM.

That heat became Jayson’s comfort zone. He’d go from lighting up the competition all throughout St. Louis to hitting up the BBQ joints all around the city. St. Louis is known for dozens of smokehouses, and folks out in the 314 have become linked to a specific way of making ribs. Rather than being slow cooked over indirect heat, they grill their ribs and douse them in hot sauce. Real talk right here: a report came out in 2015 confirms that St. Louisans consume more barbecue sauce than any other area in the entire country. 

Tatum started to get fired up in high school. His senior year at Chaminade College Preparatory School in Creve Coeur, MO, is highlighted by 10 different 30-plus point outings and six different 40-plus point outings. He was already heating up during his time with the appropriately named Red Devils. He brought his flames with him to Duke, where even on a loaded roster of offensive weapons, he managed to catch fire for seven different 20-plus point games in his lone season with the Blue Devils. It didn’t take long for the flames running through him to show up on the NBA level. As a rookie, he helped to lead the Celtics to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the mighty LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. 

Now everyone could have the soul-awakening flames that Tatum had passed down to him. Everyone, including Ruffles®. It was only right that Tatum’s official Ruffles flavor would be Flamin’ Hot® BBQ. With a spice worthy of Tatum and St. Louis, his Flamin’ Hot® BBQ flavor packs in all the heat he’s been dominating the competition with. 

Ruffles® wasn’t the only major company to notice all the flames Tatum had been burning with. The illustrious Jordan Brand also took notice of his ability to catch fire. They scooped him up in 2019 and started gifting him with player exclusive colorways of Air Jordans. 

This season, as he and the Celtics marched to the NBA Finals, he played in the Air Jordan 36. The silhouette is a technological basketball performance beast. A new upper made of Leno-Weave got rid of unnecessary weight, a full-length Zoom Strobel unit held the foundation, and a hollowed-out Eclipse Plate provided structure and unique real estate for the Jordan team to test the boundaries of colorways. 

A three-way concert kicked off between Tatum, Ruffles® and Jordan Brand. Together, the trio cooked up an Air Jordan 36 PE that honored the long history of Jayson’s spirit. Featuring Ruffles®’ signature blue, white and red, Tatum’s newest colorway boasts a printed pattern and ridge-like finishes across the tongue, collar and heel pull tab. Direct nods to Ruffles are on the outsole and the insole, where “Own Your Ridges®” is written.

The flames got extra hot when Tatum wore them against the Brooklyn Nets in Game 1 of the 2022 playoffs. He shocked the world with a twirling, game-winning layup that brought his fire all the way from St. Louis to Boston.

Want a chance to score a pair of these exclusive Flamin’ Hot kicks? From now until July 31st, Visit RufflesSneakers.com to learn how you can have a chance to win an autographed pair of Jayson Tatum’s Size 15 Air Jordan 36 “Ruffles” PEs.

The post The Story Behind Jayson Tatum’s ‘Ruffles’ Air Jordan 36 PE appeared first on SLAM.

Rather than getting back on the grind immediately, Stevens told Celtics star Jayson Tatum to take some time off from basketball.

“I just told him, ‘Go on vacation. Go get some rest.’ This guy gave us everything he had.”

Brad Stevens on his message to Jayson Tatum: “I just told him, ‘Go on vacation. Go get some rest.’ This guy gave us everything he had.”

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) June 21, 2022

Following a six-game slugfest with the eventual champion Warriors, it seems appropriate for the players to take some time off to reset. Tatum played 100 games this year which became apparent in the NBA Finals.

In six NBA Finals games, Tatum averaged 21.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 7.0 assists on 36.7 percent shooting from the field, 45.5 percent from three, and 65.6 percent from the free-throw line. Tatum also had historic turnover issues in the playoffs; the Duke alum coughed the ball up 100 times, the most ever in a single postseason run.

“This guy gave us everything he had,” Stevens said per CBS. “When you look at the minutes, the games played; I said it several times that he’s a superstar that doesn’t want to sit,” Stevens said of Tatum’s postseason output. “He wants to play all the time.”

Tatum and the Celtics will look to rebound next fall, and considering the youthful nature of this Boston team, expect them to be around for a good while longer.

The post Brad Stevens to Jayson Tatum: ‘Go On Vacation. Go Get Some Rest’ appeared first on SLAM.

“The future is bright,” Udoka said after Game 6. “And we’re just getting started.”

Ime Udoka: “The future is bright and we’re just getting started.”

— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) June 17, 2022

The Boston Celtics proved to be one of the most, if not the most resilient teams in the NBA; after finishing the season with the second-best record in the East despite a .500 start through the first 50 games of the year, Boston flipped a switch during the second half of the season and won 26 of their final 32 games and finished the season with the best defense in the League.

Boston’s turnaround led to them going on a revenge tour through the Eastern Conference Finals, beating each team that eliminated them in the last three postseasons. It started with a sweep of the Nets, beat the Bucks in 7, and did the same to the Miami Heat.

“This is tough, getting to this point and not accomplishing what we wanted to,” a dejected Jayson Tatum said after finishing with 13 points on 6-18 shooting in 40 minutes per ESPN. “It hurts. You know, we all could have done things better. I feel like I could have done a lot of things better. But, you know, like we said, we competed, we tried all season, all playoffs.”

When they got to the Finals, the Celtics looked like a legitimate threat to win the title as Tatum razzled and dazzled his way into the superstar debate. Jaylen Brown proved that any thoughts Boston should break up the Tatum-Brown wing duo were premature, Marcus Smart won the DPOY, and Robert Williams and Al Horford proved to be the best frontcourt combo for a team that wants to switch 1-5.

JB’s game is smooth as silk.
(via @celtics) pic.twitter.com/Ie7A1egRsW

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) June 17, 2022

Through the first three games of the Finals, the Celtics were neck and neck with the Warriors and grabbed a 2-1 lead. Boston could find a way to win no matter how big the deficit was. Then Game 4 happened, and Stephen Curry dropped perhaps the most consequential performance of his career with a 43-point outing in a 107-97 win. No problem, though. Boston was 7-0 after losses.

However, that streak was broken when Golden State won a Game 5 they had no business in winning, 104-94, as Andrew Wiggins made up for Curry being unable to keep up his torrid scoring pace with a 26-point, 13 rebound outing. Okay, no sweat, Boston is going back to TD Garden; no way they lose at home — right?

Wrong; despite Boston coming out of the cannon with a 14-2 run, Golden State took that punch and threw it right back with a 35-8 run, from which the Celtics never returned. They cut it to nine late in the third quarter, but their season-worst 22 turnovers were too much to overcome. After all, Boston is 0-8 when they turned the ball over at least 15 times.

“It’s going to hurt. It will hurt for a while. Probably that stuff never goes away. I’ve lost one before.” Udoka said, who was on the Spurs’ coaching staff when they lost to the Miami Heat in seven games in 2013.

“That was part of the message. Let it propel us forward, the experience. Growth and progress that we made this season. Obviously, getting to your ultimate goal and fall a few games short is going to hurt. There are a lot of guys in there [that are] very emotional right now.”

Watching pops getting buckets in the Finals >> pic.twitter.com/44tkCXR4SG

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) June 17, 2022

Boston’s first Finals appearance since 2010, losing in such a devestating matter will haunt the Celtics, especially after blowing some prime opportunity to go up 3-1 in Game 4 and having the chance to go up 3-2 at home in Game 5. But now, this loss could prove to be the fire Tatum and Brown need to destroy the East and make it back to the Final.

With a healthy Brooklyn, Miami, and Milwaukee in the way, it won’t be an easy task, but like Udoka and his team said, the future is bright.

“The future is bright,”  Brown said. “I always look at adversity as opportunities to shape an individual. For whatever reason, it wasn’t our time. That means we still got a lot to learn. Personally, I still got a lot to learn.

“For me, it’s always about growth. Continuing to get better, continuing to find different ways to lead. That’s what it’s about. The future is bright. I’m excited to get back next year.”

The post Ime Udoka After Boston’s Game 6 Loss: ‘The Future is Bright’ appeared first on SLAM.

The main issue that plagued Boston was turnovers. In Game 6, Boston coughed the ball up 22 times, and Golden State took advantage of Boston’s mistakes by scoring 27 points off the turnovers. Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart combined for 13 turnovers. The Celtics are winless in the playoffs when they turn the ball over at least 15 times.

“I think just our level of poise at times throughout this series and previous series, myself included, taking care of the ball, things like that. But it’s easy to look back and see all the things you could have done better. We tried. I know that for a fact.” Tatum said.

According to Statmuse, Tatum committed a postseason record of 100 turnovers.

Jayson Tatum is the first player in NBA history with 100 turnovers in a single postseason. pic.twitter.com/Jd7PKvYHCJ

— StatMuse (@statmuse) June 17, 2022

Tatum finished the season-ending loss with 13 points, seven rebounds, and three assists on 31.7 percent from the field with 23 overall turnovers in the Finals.

In 18 games, the 24-year-old averaged 27 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per game. Tatum’s memorable playoff run ended with him becoming the youngest player in playoff history to post 600 points, 100 rebounds, and 100 assists in a single postseason.

Led by Tatum, the Celtics went on a revenge tour through the East, beating the Nets, Bucks, and Heat as he won the inaugural Larry Bird Trophy and led the Celtics to their first Finals appearance since 2010.

“It’s hard getting to this point, and it’s even harder getting over the hump and winning it,” Tatum said about the lessons he learned from the playoff run.

Tatum had a crazy playoff run:

— 1st in points
— 1st in assists
— ECF MVP
— Youngest ever with 600/100/100
— Beat KD, Giannis, Jimmy
— Dropped 46 down 3-2 at Bucks
— Dropped 13 assists in Finals debut
— Won 2 Game 7s

Head high. pic.twitter.com/Sc5w4gSoHK

— StatMuse (@statmuse) June 17, 2022

This was the first Finals run of Tatum’s young career, and hopefully, it won’t be the last. Tatum and Brown have proven to be a dangerous duo at the wing. The core of Boston’s group is under contract next season, Tatum, Brown, and Smart made history as the first trio to finish a Finals game with at least 20 points, five rebounds, and five assists since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, and Michael Cooper did it in 1984.

Boston’s most glaring issue heading into next season will be finding a dynamic point guard or developing Smart to the point that he can make Tatum and Brown’s jobs easier as all-around wings.

“They won and we lost. We did it to ourselves. For sure, we had opportunities to go up and win,” Brown said per The Boston Herald. “I guess we’ve shown our immaturity at times, and it stings. Still a young group. Still got a lot to learn. Nothing to hang our head about. Tough day for Boston. Tough day for the Celtics. Yeah, I don’t know what to say.”

The post Boston Celtics Unable to Overcome Turnover Issues appeared first on SLAM.

“Just try to remember it’s just basketball at the end of the day,” Tatum said during his media availability, “Try to prepare the same and not get too excited. Just go out there, be relaxed and play your game but still enjoy this. It’s no guarantee that you go to the Finals every year, and it’s a big deal.”

"It's still basketball at the end of the day."@jaytatum0 on how he handles the pressure of the #NBAFinals pic.twitter.com/Uf15Ts1Zl3

— NBA TV (@NBATV) June 9, 2022

That’s some sage wisdom coming from a young player that’s experienced a good deal of playoff success early in his career. But even Tatum had to know that that level of success wasn’t common so early in his career, especially being a lottery pick like he was. Tatum and Boston went on two runs to the Conference Finals run before they reached the Finals this year.

Tatum and Boston’s journey to get to the championship stage began with a revenge tour throughout the Eastern Conference, eliminating the only teams that have beaten them in the last three postseasons. Boston ended up sweeping the Nets and beating the Bucks and Heat in seven games.

The Finals run almost seemed ordained after Al Horford revealed how he texted Tatum that he was excited to see Boston play on the biggest stage in the basketball world.

Tatum’s Finals debut didn’t go the way he expected, to put it bluntly, scoring 12 points and 13 assists on 3-17 shooting from the field. Despite having difficulty finding the bottom of the net in Game 1, Tatum was able to play a pivotal role as a playmaker, providing the hockey assist for Horford’s and-1 layup to cement Boston’s Game 1.

YEA AL pic.twitter.com/6kPA4z8aab

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) June 3, 2022

In Game 2, Tatum bounced back and posted 28 points, six rebounds, and three assists in a 107-88 loss to Golden State but turned the ball over four times.

Tatum finished Game 3 with 26 points, six rebounds, and nine assists. The five-time All-Star took over Boston’s offense in the second half, scoring 15 points to hold off Golden State after they reeled off another signature third-quarter run to close Boston’s lead to 93-89 going into the fourth quarter.

JT to the rim with ease. (via @NBA) pic.twitter.com/mevdmRwNaP

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) June 9, 2022

In the final frame, Tatum sparked a 9-2 run to close the door on the Warriors’ comeback bid. The Celtics are now up 2-1, heading into Game 4 at TD Garden.

If Tatum and Jaylen Brown (27 points, nine rebounds, five assists in Game 3) continue to ascend and meet the challenge Golden State brings, they could possibly cement their status as Celtics legends as they lead Boston to their first title since 2008.

Jayson to Jaylen (via @NBATV) pic.twitter.com/eZ6lBAdzlr

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) June 9, 2022

Tatum and Brown are also the first Boston teammates to knock down at least 50 three-pointers in a single postseason. The All-Stars accomplished the feat after Brown hit the first of his four triples in the first half.

In previous playoff runs, Ray Allen made at least 50 threes when Boston made a run to the Finals during his tenure in Beantown. However, his closest teammate, Paul Pierce, maxed out at 40 during Boston’s 2008 and 2010 run to the Finals. Larry Bird only made 80 three-pointers in the postseason for his whole career.

Boston is up 2-1 in the Finals after Wednesday’s Game 3 and has a chance to take a commanding 3-1 lead on Friday. Celtics and Warriors fans will wait with bated breath for an injury update on Stephen Curry’s foot injury he suffered in the fourth quarter.

The post Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart Join Elite Company With Game 3 Outing appeared first on SLAM.

Jaylen Brown (27 points, nine rebounds, five assists) and Jayson Tatum (26 points, six rebounds, nine assists) combined to score 53 points for the night. Brown scored 22 points in the first half to kick off the festivities, while Tatum took over Boston’s scoring duties and dropped 15 points in the second half.

Jayson to Jaylen (via @NBATV) pic.twitter.com/eZ6lBAdzlr

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) June 9, 2022

Boston grabbed their 2-1 lead over Golden State by throwing the first punch and bullying the bully. Namely, Boston took Draymond Green (two points, four boards, three dimes) out of the game and forced him to foul out in 35 minutes.

The Celtics outplayed the Boston on the inside, outscoring the Warriors in the paint, 52-26. As a team, the Celtics outrebounded the Warriors 47-31, grabbing 15 offensive rebounds, which turned into 22 second-chance points.

“Game 2, they brought the heat to us,” said Marcus Smart (24 points, seven rebounds, five assists). “For us, that left a bad taste in our mouth because what we hang our hat on is effort on the defensive end and being a physical team. It definitely woke us up a little bit.”

For the series, the Warriors have outscored the Celtics by 43 points in the third frame. A seven-point swing highlighted their third quarter after Stephen Curry (31 points, four rebounds, two assists, including 15 in the third) knocked down a three-pointer as he was fouled by Al Horford (11 points, eight rebounds, six assists).

Horford’s foul was ruled flagrant because he didn’t give Curry any room to land. After Curry sank the subsequent free throw, Otto Porter Jr. (six points and four rebounds) hit a three-pointer to complete the seven-point sequence.

ANNDDD ONNEEEEE! (via @warriors) pic.twitter.com/bSZhs14X5v

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) June 9, 2022

Curry hit another three just a minute later to give Golden State its first lead since 17 seconds into the first quarter. Boston did just enough at the end of the third and clung to a 93-89 lead entering the fourth quarter.

“It’s all about how you respond. We didn’t hold our head down or anything. We called a timeout, figured it out, and made winning plays.”

The Celtics kept their composure and responded to Golden State’s dominant run with a 9-2 run to open the final frame that extended their lead to 11 points. The Warriors were unable to cut the deficit to any closer than eight points the rest of the way.

Tatum scored eight points, followed by Smart’s eight before Coach Ime Udoka pulled Bostons started with two minutes left in the game.

“We talked about it quite a bit, our group being resilient and being able to fight through a lot of things and at times when it’s most needed being able to lock down on defense,” Udoka said. “We did in the fourth quarter,”

Takes some finesse. (via @espn) pic.twitter.com/xvmFzaPbYq

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) June 9, 2022

Now in control of their destiny with a 2-1 lead heading into Friday’s Game 4, Boston can feel good knowing that out of the 39 previous times teams who have split the first two games of the finals, whoever won Game 3 went on to win the series 82% of the time. Also, Boston is now 7-0 after losing and has yet to lose back-to-back games in the postseason.

However, neither has Golden State. In fact, Golden State has won at least one road in every playoff series since the first round of the 2013 playoffs. The Warriors will have to extend that streak to win their fourth title since 2015. After Boston bullied the bully that is Golden State, the question is who will take on that bully role on Friday.

The post Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum Lead Boston to Game 3 Win appeared first on SLAM.

Tatum is locked in tonight. Already 4 3PT by the 2nd quarter.

(via @NBAUK) pic.twitter.com/VCEFEyG0yV

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) June 6, 2022

Tatum has nearly concluded the superstar debate in his fifth year in the League. This past regular season, Tatum earned his third All-Star appearance and was earned his first All-NBA First-Team selection after averaging career-high numbers nearly across the board. The Celtics won 26 of their last 32 games and finished the season with the top defense, beating the Nets, Bucks, and Heat to reach the Finals.

For the 2021-22 campaign, Tatum put up 26.9 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game on 45.3 percent shooting from the field and 35.3 percent shooting from deep. JT scored 30+ points 24 times, 40+ three times, and has scored 50 or more twice, including a season-high 54 against the Nets in March. For the playoffs, he’s scored 30+ six times and had a 49/9/4 outing in a Game 6 win over the Bucks in the conference semifinals.

Heading into Game 3 of his first NBA Finals appearance tied at 1-1, Tatum flipped a question about him “as a superstar player” And asked reporters where the debate even came from.

“A lot of people want to debate,” Tatum said. “I guess you just commented about the superstar, whatever that means, right? I’ve seen there’s a huge debate: Is he a superstar, or is he not? I want to know where that came from. Did I tweet that? Did I ever say I’m a superstar, I’m on the verge? That never came from me.

“It’s been a big deal this last year and a half or two years. I see it all the time. There’s always been a question in the back of my head; I wonder who spoke on my behalf or said that or why that was such a big deal.”

Jayson Tatum said he wasn’t sure where the “Is he a superstar?” debate came from around him, but that’s focused on winning a title vs being a superstar: “If you win a championship, they can debate a lot of things, but they can’t debate whether or not you’re a champion.”

— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) June 7, 2022

Tatum will have a chance to answer that debate clearly when the Celtics host the Warriors for Wednesday’s game 3. The Celtics are 5-4 in TD Garden but are certified road warriors with an 8-3 record in away games. Whoever wins will be in the driver’s seat and be two wins away from winning an NBA title.

The post Jayson Tatum On ‘Is He a Superstar’ Debate and Winning First Title appeared first on SLAM.

Stephen Curry dropped 29 points while Jordan Poole had 17 (including an insane half court three-pointer to cap off a huge third quarter run) as Golden State cruised to a dub in Game 2. Down 23 points entering the fourth quarter, Boston eventually went down 29 points with 10:45 minutes remaining. Celtics head coach Ime Udoka then elected to pull his starters at the ensuing timeout.

Draymond Green says he was surprised to see the Celtics’ first year head coach “pull the plug” with nearly an entire quarter to play.

“Going into the fourth quarter up 23, all it takes is one blow from there,” Green said on “The Draymond Green Show.” “You throw one punch, and that’s kind of it. And that’s what happened. We threw a punch and went up 29, and then they pulled the plug.

“I was a little shocked to see them pull the plug so early. I do understand it and respect it. But I just did not expect to come back out of that timeout and (see) them pull the plug.”

Boston starters Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart and Al Horford never re-entered the game as Udoka suffered his first Finals loss as head coach.

Despite a perplexed reaction to Udoka’s decision, Green did praise the Celtics reserves, who actually outscored the Warriors by four in the fourth quarter.

“That is a championship organization and those guys didn’t come in and quit,” Green said. “They continued to fight and battle, and we had to continue to close the game out.”

Boston will get a much-needed boost from its home crowd as the series will now head back to the Bean for Games 3 and 4.

The post Draymond Green ‘Shocked’ Celtics Pulled Starters Early in Game 2 appeared first on SLAM.

For Boston to stay tight with the Warriors despite an off-night from Jayson Tatum (12 points on 3-17 shooting from the field, 1-5 from three-point range) bodes well for the Celtics. Tatum didn’t let his below-average scoring night deter him; the former Duke Blue Devil took over playmaking duties for Boston, matching Bob Cousey with a career-high and a Finals record-tying 13 assists in his Finals debut.

Tatum’s 13 dimes place him over Michael Jordan, Isaiah Thomas, and John Stockton, the previous single-game record-holders with 12.

“Ecstatic, right? Forty points in the fourth quarter? JB played big. Al, Payton (Pritchard), D-White. Those guys made big shots — timely shots as well. And we won, right?” Tatum said per The Athletic despite his off-night shooting. “I had a bad shooting night. I just tried to impact the game in other ways. We’re in the championship. We’re in the finals. All I was worried about was trying to get a win, and we did. That’s all that matters at this point.

“So I don’t expect to shoot that bad again. But if it means we keep winning, I’ll take it.”

Boston entered the fourth quarter down 12 points but was confident going into the final frame of Game 1. Jaylen Brown (24 points, seven rebounds, five assists) and Al Horford (26 points on a Finals-debut record 6-8 shooting from three) awarded that confidence by scoring 21 combined points. Horford powered the Celtics’ decisive 17-0 run with 14 points, knocking down back-to-back triples to take the lead.

At the same time, the Celtics held the Warriors scoreless for nearly five minutes, allowing Stephen Curry (34 points, five boards, five assists) to contribute four points and two dimes on 2-6 shooting from the field.

“The message at the start of the fourth was: We’ve been here before. We know what it takes to overcome a deficit like that,” Tatum said. “Obviously, that’s a great team. It’s not going to be easy. But just knowing we’ve been in that situation before, and we’ve gotten (ourselves) out of it. We had a lot of time left, right? It wasn’t time to hang your head or be done; it was time to figure it out.”

“We know what it takes to overcome a deficit like that.”@jaytatum0 on Boston’s huge 4th quarter comeback in Game 1. pic.twitter.com/ljSshFv91H

— NBA TV (@NBATV) June 3, 2022

Brown and Horford’s excellence in the fourth quarter allowed Tatum not to feel like he had to force the issue. Instead, Tatum could focus on swinging the ball when it came his way, contest shots on defense, and sprint to the corners to create optimum spacing when Brown or Derrick White (21 points on 5-8 shooting from distance) pushed the tempo. It was Tatum who dimed Horford for his second straight triple that gave Boston a six-point lead late in the fourth.

According to Tatum’s trainer, Drew Hanlen, he’s been hammering the importance of Tatum learning to be a game manager since last summer.

“I think the biggest thing is the advice that Michael Jordan gave Kobe Bryant: At the end of the day, the only thing that people are going to judge you on is if you get the job done or not,” Hanlen said. “In past years, (Tatum’s) focus has been on scoring and being able to carry the load on the offensive end through scoring. Whereas now, it’s more so just reading what the defense is giving him, making the right play, not forcing shots, not taking ‘my turn’ shots, and really just getting everybody involved.”

Tatum’s acceptance of that development allowed him to simply keep playing fast with his teammates instead of trying to slow the game down after Golden State tied the game at 103 with a Curry finger-roll. Instead, Tatum initiated the sequence intended for a White corner three that eventually ended with Horford hitting his first back-breaking triple to retake the lead they wouldn’t look back on.

To top it off, Tatum finished a plus-27 in the fourth despite not scoring. His passes created 38 points in Game 1 per Synergy. Only one of his 13 dimes was a shot inside the arc.

“All year leading up to this, we’ve been kind of grooming and preparing Jayson for these moments where teams are going to key in on you so much that they try to take you out of the game,” Smart said. “For us, it’s just to make sure he stays confident and knows that even though they’re doing a good job on you, you still who you are, and we got your back. That’s what we are here for, to help you when times like that, to help you get going.”

The Boston Celtics’ usual formula for winning has usually allowed Tatum and Brown to lead them across the finish line. This time around, Tatum played second-fiddle to Brown and the Celtics’ collection of role players.

When the Celtics capped off their comeback win with a Horford and-1, Tatum baited the Warriors into blitzing him. Tatum subsequently got off the ball and gave Smart enough room to put the game away with the dime to Horford, which ultimately gave them a 120-105 lead with less than a minute to go.

YEA AL pic.twitter.com/6kPA4z8aab

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) June 3, 2022

Boston can take a 2-0 lead as the series shifts to TD Garden after Sunday’s Game 2.

The post Jayson Tatum Sounds Off On Boston’s 4th Quarter Comeback appeared first on SLAM.

Boston enters the Finals after beating the Nets, Bucks, and Heat, who each beat the Celtics during the last three postseasons. The Celtics were able to make this run despite a slow start to the season. Boston went .500 over the first 50 games of the season but won after 26 of their last 32 games, finishing the season with the best defensive rating in the League.

The Warriors beat the Nuggets, Grizzlies, and Mavericks during their run to the Finals. They finished the regular-season with a 53-29 record, good for third in the West. They’ve had a season of triumph with Stephen Curry breaking the all-time record for made three-pointers and creating the 3k club and the happy return of Klay Thompson following 942 days away from the hardwood.

They also had to deal with injuries to Curry and Green that almost knocked them off the top of the West, but the emergence of Jordan Poole and some timely big games from Thompson helped them stave off any trouble.

The regular-season series between the Warriors and Celtics ended in a 1-1 tie, with both teams winning their home games; Boston won the last matchup 110-88, but the Warriors were missing Andrew Wiggins, and Curry suffered a foot sprain that night that sidelined him until Game 1 of the first-round after colliding with Marcus Smart as the two fought for a loose ball.

Here, we take a look at these two powerhouse squads:

Can Golden State Solve Boston’s Defense?

Boston has the top-ranked defense remaining in the Finals and is designed to stop the chaotic motion offense of the Warriors. The Celtics’ ability to wear teams out physically and their switching makes them the best defense in the League.

On the other side, the Dubs are the top-ranked offense in the playoffs, scoring 116.1 points per game—up to four points from what they scored during the regular season. Will Golden State rely on their typical offensive actions against a defense that’s been excellent at stopping superstar scorers like Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and Giannis Antetokounmpo? We’ll have to find out and see.

Tatum Exploiting Mismatches

While Boston is equipped with a squad full of bucket-getters, one standout has been Jayson Tatum, who has hunted mismatches against the Warriors—whether it’s shooting over defenders or whipping the ball around so that Boston can attack Golden State when have a 4-on-3 advantage. As JT continues to step up as a playmaker, Boston has continued to thrive.

Coach Steve Kerr’s solution may be to mix different coverages against him, likely doubling, switching, and mixing in some zone looks like the Warriors used against Luka Doncic. Another question is if Derrick White, Smart, and Brown can continue to show out and knock down shots, including the ones Tatum helps create for them.

X-FACTOR

An x-factor for Golden State has been two-way play of Andrew Wiggins. As a member of the Warriors, Wiggins has emerged as an All-Star after thriving as a third option scorer. His shot creation, defensive versatility, and offensive rebound makes him indispensable players. Will Wiggins make the most of his opportunities against a physical defense that thrives at reducing ball movement and forcing some iso play?

Robert Williams is another x-factor for the C’s. The Time Lord’s shot-blocking at the rim and perimeter has been invaluable when he was healthy. On the offensive end, Williams is a primetime lob threat.

The post 2022 NBA Finals Preview appeared first on SLAM.

Al Horford was one of the many new faces on the team this year who remained confident in the group even at the lowest point of the season. His first rodeo with Boston started in 2016 and ended in 2019 when the team went to the Eastern Conference Finals under then-coach Brad Stevens in his first two seasons.

Horford played with Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, and Robert Williams in that first stint. When the five-time All-Star returned last summer, he could feel the team’s potential before the season even began.

“I texted Jayson (Tatum) and told him that I was looking forward to being in the position this coming season,” said Horford. “And I really believed that. When I shared that with him, I looked at our group, I saw the potential there. I already played with these guys, I know what they’re about, and I just knew that if we got it together that we were gonna have an opportunity, we were gonna have a chance.”

It took them a bit longer than other teams, but Boston found their stride and peaked at the absolute best time. Adding Horford helped improve Boston in some areas they struggled with last season, like rebounding and overall defense. In 2021, Boston ranked 15th overall in the NBA in total team rebounds, 22nd in defensive rebounds, and 14th in defensive rating.

Bringing back Horford changed the dynamic for 2022 when Boston ranked second in defensive rating, improved to being the fourth-best rebounding team in the NBA, and elevated back to one of the best offenses in the NBA.

Horford also brought strong leadership to a team that doesn’t have any other players north of 29-years-old, something they lacked last year. With Horford back on the team, the team’s maturity has shined throughout their playoff run.

Horford has been critical for Boston averaging 11.9 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 3.5 assists in the 2022 playoffs. Though his box score numbers do not indicate his impact and value to this Boston team, advanced numbers suggest Horford has the most win shares in these playoffs while simultaneously being +4 in defensive box score plus/minus, both tops on the Celtics.

The NBA Finals begin on Thursday, with the Warriors hosting the Celtics for Game 1.

The post Al Horford Reveals He Texted Jayson Tatum That Celtics Would Get to the Finals appeared first on SLAM.

“I can remember when he was a little boy—this is how obsessed he was,” recalls Brandy Cole, the mother of Celtics All-Star Jayson Tatum. “I asked him, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ His first answer in life was, ‘Kobe.’”

Brandy tried to explain to her son: You can’t be Kobe. You can be an NBA player, like Kobe. But you can’t be Kobe.

Jayson refused to accept that. And when mom dared to suggest that he could one day be better than Kobe, her son damn near lost his mind.

“I was like, ‘Can’t nobody be better than Kobe!’” Tatum remembers. “It didn’t even make sense to me.”

Not too long ago, Jayson Tatum hated the Boston Celtics. As a kid growing up in St. Louis, MO—a city without a hometown NBA team—he fell in love with Kobe and the Lakers. That love, dating back to when Jayson was 4 years old, ran deep. It was an obsession.

He retreated to his bedroom and cried when Boston beat L.A. in the 2008 Finals. He was ecstatic when Kobe got his revenge in 2010, winning his fifth and final championship.

“From the beginning, [Kobe] was always my favorite player,” Tatum explains. “I wanted to be just like him. He was my biggest basketball inspiration.”

By the age of 6, Jayson was getting into heated arguments with Brandy about who was better, Kobe or Michael Jordan. She watched MJ and the Bulls rule the League in the ’90s. Jayson’s allegiance, of course, was always to the Mamba.

In every way possible, Jayson tried to emulate his idol. He was shooting turnaround, fadeaway jumpers by third grade. Brandy would peer out the window and see Jayson working on Kobe’s moves in the backyard of their home in University City.

He rocked all the Kobe kicks and apparel he could get his hands on.

“My favorite Kobe shoes were the Kobe 3s,” Tatum says. “I had on the ‘What The’ Kobe 9s in the state championship game my senior year. Played in Kobe ‘Preludes,’ 5s and 6s, when I was on the EYBL circuit.”

“I can remember the first time I found out that Flight Club existed, he was entering his senior year and he wanted these shoes—’What The’ Kobes,” Brandy says. “They were already expensive to me. I looked high and low, and then I found Flight Club. Of course, the only place [that had them]. And I was like, You mean I got to pay more for these? [laughs] But he was like, ‘That’s all I want. It can be my Christmas gift and my birthday gift. That’s all I want.’”

In 2007, Jayson met Kobe for the first time at Quicken Loans Arena, when the Cavaliers hosted the Lakers. He still has the picture they took in the hallway after the game. That same year, he went to All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas with Brandy. They didn’t have tickets to the events but made it to the NBA’s Jam Session—a giant activation geared toward kids. Tatum picked out a red Western Conference All-Star Kobe jacket. Brandy dug it up after Bryant’s passing and surprised Jayson with it.

Tatum’s fandom started as most fandoms do. He gravitated to the exciting showman playing on one of the League’s brightest stages. The Lakers regularly appeared on national TV. Bryant regularly appeared on SportCenter’s Top 10. Once Tatum discovered YouTube, he’d spend hours and hours going through highlights. 

“One of my all-time favorite plays when I was younger was when they threw the full-court pass to him and he did the 180 when he went behind his back,” he says. “That shit was just, like, unbelievable to me when I first saw that.”

As he became older and found his own success in basketball, Jayson began to look up to Kobe for reasons far beyond a lob to Shaq or a poster over Dwight. He kept watching the highlights, only this time, he studied them differently.

“I remember my dad telling me, ‘Don’t just watch his buckets. Watch how hard he works to get open for the ball, his demeanor, how efficient he is with his body movements and his jab steps, his footwork. Don’t just watch the shot go in,’” Tatum says. “I really started to pay attention to the little things.”

“The little things” extended far beyond clips on YouTube. Jayson read stories of Kobe’s work ethic, drive and intensity. He listened to the Mamba speak about it himself—how he put all his eggs in one basket, how he chased his goal of making the NBA relentlessly, how he never had a backup plan. It became Tatum’s own mantra.

“He said the exact same words to me,” Brandy explains. “We would talk about work ethic and all of that. I would say, ‘OK, what’s your Plan B just in case [you don’t make the NBA]?’ He looked at me one day and he was like, ‘That’s the difference between me…’ and he named all these other people. ‘They actually have a fallback plan, a Plan B.’ These were his exact words: ‘Mom, no. It’s this or die.’ And I responded, ‘Um, no. Maybe there’s something else, like coaching.’ I was trying to get him to at least come up with something. There’s a small number of people that actually make the NBA, and as a lawyer, I’m always like, Do your due diligence, make sure you have all your bases covered. But he was emphatic. ‘It’s this or nothing.’”

As early as elementary school, Tatum embraced the Mamba Mentality. He’d tell teachers that his dream was to be an NBA player, and when they encouraged him to choose something more realistic, he remained steadfast.

“I can remember vividly, he was in the fourth grade playing AAU Nationals in New Orleans,” Brandy says. “We would go on trips and there was a rule that you couldn’t swim or couldn’t have fries and ice cream and stuff like that, because you couldn’t swim all day in the sun and then go play and compete. We lost, and a bunch of other kids on the team were like, Yay, now we can go swim. We get back to the hotel and they all can’t wait to get into their swimsuits and go to the pool. I go in our room and Jayson’s sitting on the floor with his back against the wall in tears. You’re not going swimming? He said, ‘No, I don’t understand. We lost. There’s nothing to be happy about.’ He was just so upset. There was always something different about him.”

That continued into high school, when Jayson was up at 5 am every morning and off to the gym before Brandy even got out of bed. He paid attention to the details and never took shortcuts. He mastered Bryant’s jab step by training for an entire week without a basketball, just replicating the motion over and over again. During his four years at Chaminade, head coach Frank Bennett insists he took just two days off—the two days following their state championship victory his senior season.

All of that stemmed from Bryant and a desire to follow in his footsteps. It seemed to come full circle when, amid Boston’s 2018 playoff run, Kobe dedicated a segment of his ESPN show Detail to breaking down Tatum’s game. Then a rookie, Tatum had been helping to lead an injury-riddled Celtics team through the Eastern Conference. After years of analyzing Bryant’s every move, the roles had suddenly reversed. Jayson watched the episode on repeat.

“I started to talk to him during the playoffs. He told me when I get to L.A. to contact him. If I wanted to get in the gym, just let him know,” Tatum says. “And then when we did, I remember I was sweating on the way to the gym. My heart was beating fast. I remember I walked in and I was like, Yo, this shit…Kobe is here and I’m about to…like, it was…”

He struggles to find the words to describe the moment exactly. Here he was, having just turned 20, about to play basketball with his hero.

“I remember I would do a drill and he would show me how to do something or tell me what to do next, and I was just sitting there and in my mind I’m like, Yo, I’m working out with fucking Kobe Bryant.”

“It’s right up there with him getting drafted,” says Brandy, of that first workout between her son and Bryant. “It’s watching your kid’s dreams come true.”

“He’s iconic,” says Jayson. “He accomplished so much. I think it was just the way he went about it. The way he did things and his demeanor. He was different. That’s the best way to put it. He was just different. He was unlike anybody else. He did it his own way. And you could see when he passed away, so many people my age and even older guys in the NBA, they attribute him [with] being the reason they work so hard and started playing basketball.”

The news of Kobe’s death left Tatum heartbroken. He continued to honor his idol on the court, being named to his first All-Star team in late January. The seeds of that accomplishment were planted nearly two decades ago, when a young, awestruck Jayson first saw the Black Mamba dominate. Kobe was the reason he picked up a basketball. Kobe was the one who inspired him to strive for feats like this.

“No matter if it was during the regular season, postseason, All-Star—everything he’s always done, he’s always followed and wanted to emulate Kobe,” Brandy emphasizes. “Whether it was on the court, life accomplishments, USA [Basketball], All-Star.

“I think it’s a little bittersweet [making his first All-Star Game],” she continues. “I’m sure Kobe would’ve been there. I’m sure Jayson probably would’ve gotten a text or a phone call congratulating him. I think he would have been glad to see that Kobe was proud of him. It’s bittersweet, for sure, but I know that he knows Kobe is proud of him and that this is one of many. And if he keeps that Mamba Mentality, he’ll be a perennial All-Star, MVP candidate, all of that.”

That’s Plan A. And for Jayson Tatum, there aren’t any backup plans.

Tap in now for access to the SLAM Digital Archive and a 1-year subscription to SLAM Magazine.

Photo via Getty Images.

The post The Blueprint: How Kobe Bryant’s Influence Drives Jayson Tatum appeared first on SLAM.

The Celtics’ Eastern Conference Finals series win was largely thanks to their efforts of inaugural Larry Bird winner, Jayson Tatum. Tatum finally helped the Celtics get over the ECF hump after three tries since Boston drafted him third overall in the 2017 NBA Draft. The Celtics have made four conference finals appearances since 2017.

Jayson Tatum hoists the Larry Bird Trophy awarded to the Eastern Conference Finals MVP #PhantomCam #BleedGreen pic.twitter.com/vRMUNs1sqm

— NBA (@NBA) May 30, 2022

The former Duke Blue Devil finished Game 7 with 26 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists in 47 outstanding minutes. He averaged 24.8 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game for the series, never ceasing to make the most critical plays when Beantown needed him to make them. Tatum put together the sublime Game 7 performance while wearing a No. 24 armband in honor of mentor Kobe Bryant.

“It’s a great honor,” Tatum said. “This is my third time, and to get over the hump with this group, it means everything. So i couldn’t be prouder of these guys — the road that we took to get here, not a lot of people believed in us. We took the toughest route, and it worked out.”

Jayson Tatum discusses winning the First-Ever Larry Bird Trophy awarded to the Eastern Conference Finals MVP, and getting to the #NBAFinals presented by @YouTubeTV. pic.twitter.com/CrM0vfBjMj

— NBA (@NBA) May 30, 2022

The 2022 NBA Finals begin on June 2, with Golden State hosting Game 1 taking place in Chase Center. It will be the Warriors’ sixth appearance since 2015 and the 10th they’ve made in franchise history. The Celtics have made the NBA Finals 20 times in their history, winning 17. Their most recent title run came under the leadership of Doc Rivers, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen.

The Celtics’ improbable road to the Finals comes after Boston finished the regular season with the best defense in the League and won 26 of their last 32 games after going .500 in the first 50 games of the season. Boston (51-31) earned the No.2 seed in the playoffs, eliminating the Nets in a four-game sweep, finishing the defending champion Bucks in seven, and beating the Heat in seven games.

The post Jayson Tatum Crowned First Larry Bird Trophy Winner appeared first on SLAM.

After Wednesday’s Game 5 93-80 win over Miami to give Boston a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals, any notion of separating Tatum and Brown can be put to rest. The 1-2 punch combined for 47 points, 16 rebounds, and 10 assists.

Brown provided the scoring punch with a game-high 25 points on 10-19 shooting from the field, 5-9 from beyond the arc, while Tatum took over playmaking and rebounding duties, making sure to make an impact in other ways since his shot wasn’t falling at its usual clip.

“We just got to come out and play basketball,” Brown told reporters of his partnership with Tatum after Wednesday’s 93-80 victory. “We feel like there’s not a lot of people who can play basketball with us two. When he gets going, when I get going, we know that we’re going to put ourselves in a good spot to win.”

Coming out of a tough first half down 42-37 after turning the ball over 10 times and allowing 16 second-chance points, Boston came out of the break with a different mindset. Led by a tough conversation amongst the Boston core of Tatum, Brown, and Marcus Smart, Boston knew that in order to turn Game 5 around in their favor was winning hustle plays, toughness, and taking care of the ball.

“Basically just talked about how much does it mean to us,” Tatum said about Boston’s ugly first half, per The Athletic. “We know all the plays and things like that, but saw the 50/50 balls and hustle plays and things like that are about toughness and effort. That’s what we talked about, us playing better, taking care of the ball, just competing. Because we know what’s on the line.”

From there, it was a tale of two halves. Boston raced out to an 8-0 lead to grab a lead they wouldn’t surrender, forcing Miami to miss their first nine shots of the second half while holding a nine-point lead heading into the final frame. As for the play of Tatum and Browm, the duo combined to score 15 points on 6-10 shooting, committing just one turnover during the decisive third quarter.

When reporters asked Coach Ime Udoka what changed for Brown after he coughed the ball up four times in the first half, Udoka offered a simple explanation. Brown stopped turning the ball over. Brown ended up scoring 19 points in the second half, throwing down the powerful hammer in the half-court to give Boston a suffocating 18-point cushion.

“This is a great opportunity,” Brown said per NBCSports. “Leave everything on the floor. You don’t want any feelings of regret. We’ve got an opportunity to do something with this group that’s special, so let’s not take that for granted. Let’s come out Friday on our home floor and play the best version of basketball we played all season.

“It’s a big game for us. At the same time, just breathe, relax. Sometimes we can be a little bit too tense because we know how important these moments are. But just come out and play our game, and we’ll be fine.”

JB RELAX (via @NBATV) pic.twitter.com/GPksWm5fuG

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) May 26, 2022

The Celtics will look to close the ECF out and punch their ticket to the NBA Finals when the series shifts back to Beantown for Friday’s Game 6 in TD Garden.

The post Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum Shine In Game 5 Win Over Miami Heat appeared first on SLAM.

Tatum was awarded an All-Star nod in the 2021 All-Star Game but was snubbed from an All-NBA selection despite putting up similar, if not better, numbers than when he was voted to the 2020 All-NBA Third-Team.

During the 2020-2021 COVID-19 shortened season, Tatum scored 30+ points 16 separate times, 40+ twice, 50+ twice, and scored a career-high 60 points against the Spurs in early April. Not getting voted as a top 15 player in the League by basketball writers left Tatum feeling “kind of disrespected.”

“Do I think I was one of the best 15 players last year? A thousand percent.”

Jayson Tatum said he “kind of felt disrespected” when he didn’t make an all-NBA team last season.

“Do I think I was one of the best 15 players last year? A thousand percent.”

— Jay King (@ByJayKing) May 25, 2022

This last season, Tatum was vindicated with his third straight All-Star game selection and was voted to the All-NBA First Team for the first time in his career after leading the League for the first time in his career. He also finished the 2021-22 season, averaging 26.9 points, 8.0 boards, and 4.3 dimes per game on 45.3 percent shooting from the field, including 35.3 percent shooting from beyond the arc, in 76 appearances.

Tatum scored 30+ points 24 times and scored 40+ points three times and 50+ twice, including a season-high 54 against the Nets in March. Tatum has led the Celtics to a 49-27 season, good for second in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Jayson Tatum fading away is art.
(via @NBA) pic.twitter.com/HEDU60m8yY

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) May 24, 2022

The Celtics and Miami Heat are currently in a dogfight in the Eastern Conference Finals, tied 2-2 as the series shifts back to Miami for Wednesday’s Game 5 in FTX Arena.

The post Jayson Tatum ‘Felt Disrespected’ After 2021 All-NBA Snub appeared first on SLAM.

2021-22 All-NBA teams:

First: Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic, Devin Booker, Jayson Tatum

Second: Joel Embiid, Ja Morant, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, DeMar DeRozan

Third: Karl-Anthony Towns, LeBron James, Chris Paul, Trae Young, Pascal Siakam

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 25, 2022

Although Jokic is the reigning MVP, he wasn’t the leading vote-getter for All-NBA First Team, Antetokounmpo was. The Greek Freak received all 100 votes for one of the forward spots on the First-Team. Jokic and Joel Embiid, who finished as runner-up for the ’21 and ’22 MVP, split votes as the First-Team center. Embiid ended up being named as the center for the Second-Team.

Antekounmpo was not only the lone unanimous All-NBA selection this season, but he also became the first player over the last 50 years to be a unanimous selection to the All-NBA First Time in four consecutive seasons, according to ESPN Stats and Information research.

Doncic became the fourth player in NBA history to earn his third First-Team selection before turning 24-years-old, joining Kevin Durant, Tim Duncan, and Max Zazlofsky. Jokic, Antetokounmpo and Doncic were joined by Jayson Tatum and Devin Booker. According to the NBA, this is the first time since 1954-55 that the First-Team comprises players at least 27-years-old or younger.

Booker and Tatum earned the First-Team nod for the first time in their career. This is the first overall All-NBA selection for Booker and Tatum’s second nod. Tatum is the first Celtic to make All-NBA First-Team since Kevin Garnett did it in 2008. He’s also the youngest Celtic to earn an All-NBA First-Team selection since Larry Bird in 1980.

The Second-Team is rounded out by Stephen Curry, Ja Morant, DeMar DeRozan, and Durant. Chris Paul, Trae Young, LeBron James, Pascal Siakam, and Karl-Anthony Towns filled out the Third-Team. James picked up his record 18th All-NBA nod, placing him ahead of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kobe Bryant, and Tim Duncan for most All-NBA picks, and became the first player in League history to make the All-NBA in his 19th+ season.

Paul is the first guard since Bryant to make an All-NBA team in his 17th+ season.

The post Nikola Jokic Headlines 2021-2022 All-NBA Teams appeared first on SLAM.

Buckets in Boston.

31 PTS
8 REB
5 AST
2 STL
8-16 FGM pic.twitter.com/WD9VOT2ipM

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) May 24, 2022

Boston never looked back after racing out to a quick 8-0 run to begin Game 3. They eventually grabbed a 20-point lead in the first quarter, preventing Miami from scoring a field goal until the 3:22 mark, the longest drought in playoff history. The Celtics’ defense also held the Heat to 33.3 percent shooting from the field, including 38.9 percent from deep. Miami ultimately missed 15 of its first 16 shots.

“I think just starting off better,” Tatum said when asked about Boston’s stifling defensive effort. “Obviously, last game, we were down 20 in the first quarter; they were just a little too comfortable. They’re a really good team; they got great players. With great players, you can’t just make it easy. You gotta make it tough, stay connected and communicate.”

Jayson Tatum fading away is art.
(via @NBA) pic.twitter.com/HEDU60m8yY

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) May 24, 2022

Boston also held Miami’s starters to just 18 points on 7-36 combined shooting from the field., Bam Adebayo led Miami’s starting five with nine points and six rebounds. Victor Oladipo led all Heat scorers with 23 points, four rebounds, and six assists.

Meanwhile, Tatum had a redeem game after being held to 10 points in Saturday’s Game 3 loss. Tattum scored 12 points in the opening frame, including this crafty reverse layup nearly four minutes into the game.

“We just came back and redeemed ourselves,” Tatum said. “We knew this was a game that we really needed to protect home court. Just following the last game, we were just ready to play; everybody was just ready to get back out here and play better.

Ain't no lay too tuff for Tatum.
(via @ESPNNBA) pic.twitter.com/7Wl2eQlFPf

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) May 24, 2022

As Tatum rose to the occasion, so did the rest of his teammates, who kept up the defensive pressure and smothered Miami, and prevented the Heat from getting comfortable at any point. Robert Williams (12 points, nine rebounds, two blocks) and Al Horford (five points, 13 rebounds, three assists, four blocks) recorded six combined blocks, with Tatum contributing two of his own.

“Al is our leader,” Tatum said about the veteran out of Florida. “I’ve been fortunate to have AL as a teammate for three years. He’s been great for me and my development, just the ultimate professional. It’s no surprise how he takes care of himself and the way he performs in big games.”

“Nah.” – Al Horford probably. pic.twitter.com/OwtfIKpu3U

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) May 24, 2022

Game 4 was never close on Monday, and now Boston and Miami will be wrestling for control when the ECF series shifts back to Miami for Game 4. From this point on, the seven-game series is now a best-of-three series.

The post Jayson Tatum Leads Boston to 102-82 Win Over Miami, Tie ECF Series At 2-2 appeared first on SLAM.

“Wake up,” Udoka told his team.

And boy, did they wake up. The Celtics tied the series up at 1-1 with a 127-102 win in FTX Arena, stealing home-court advantage as the series shifts to Boston for Games 3 and 4. Jayson Tatum (27 points, five rebounds, and five assists) and Jaylen Brown (24 points and eight rebounds,)rebounded from their disastrous Game 1 performances and combined to score 51 points.

The return of Marcus Smart (24 points, nine rebounds, 14 dimes) and Al Horford (10 points, three rebounds, three assists) also helped Boston roll past Miami on Thursday. Boston knocked down 20 three-pointers also, with Smart hitting 5-12 and Tatum and Brown combining to hit eight triples.

“I got to get my rest, got to get my health back, got to watch and see some things and come out and execute in this game,” Smart said.

MARCUS SMART DROPPED EM! (via @NBA) pic.twitter.com/4rChRnG6mL

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) May 20, 2022

The Celtics used a 17-0 run late in the first quarter, fueled by five triples in six possessions, to take control of Game 2. The momentum-shifting run helped Boston outscore Miami 60-21 over the next 18 minutes, which turned into a 70-45 halftime lead. Brown led the surge with 11 points in the opening frame, Boston shot 9-11 from beyond the arc in the first quarter, and Tatum added fuel to the fire by scoring 17 points in the second quarter.

20+ in the 1st half. Tatum came out HOT! (via @ESPNNBA) pic.twitter.com/FRkgqt5Giy

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) May 20, 2022

The 25-point halftime lead was the largest lead the Celtics have had in a road playoff game, topping the previous record of 22 against the Chicago Bulls in 2009. Miami cut the deficit to 17 off Jimmy Butler’s 16 points in the third quarter, but Boston went on a 12-2 run to close the door on any comeback bid. By the time the final frame began, Boston was 96-71.

“Guys have pride and looked at a golden opportunity that we kind of lost (in Game 1) and thought we could do much better,” Udoka said. “And we did that tonight.”

The Celtics are 4-0 following a loss this postseason. The ECF shifts to Boston on Saturday with both Eastern Conference foes looking to leave Game 3 with a 2-1 lead.

The post Celtics ‘Wake Up’ and Win Game 2 of ECF 127-102 appeared first on SLAM.

With countless tunnel fits to choose from, the All-LeagueFits Teams were carefully selected by a voting system that include one-third of fan votes, one-third of votes from LF’s Survival of the Fitted Podcast, and the remaining votes from an exclusive panel that includes designer Mamadou, former WNBA star Ty Young, fashion publicist John Guidry, NBA champ Axel Toupane, NFL star and designer Rodney McLeod, designer Caroline Bentley Noble, Los Angeles Sparks’ star Liz Cambage, fashion Tik Tok influencer Ayeeron, former NBA standout and designer/ ‘Bucks in 6’ legend Brandon Jennings, Richard aka @thehapablonde and stylist Devon Byrd.

Here are the official results of the First, Second and Third Teams, as well as the All-Rookie and Honorable Mentions. Stay tuned for the individual award selections.

Jordan Clarkson is truly in a class of his own. This is his third consecutive first team selection, and he was one of only two unanimous picks between the panel, fans and pod. Kelly Oubre Jr. was the first-ever LeagueFits MVP, and he makes an epic return to the first team after showing out in a major way with charlotte this past season.

As for SGA, no debates to be had this time around. He showed off his versatility this season and rightfully secured his spot on the top team. Then there’s Devin Booker, who has the most defined aesthetic in basketball. he was one of two players to be unanimously voted to the first team.

Meanwhile, D-Lo elevated his looks to another level this season, and he did it in the classiest way possible.

These five did it their way and one time for some of the tunnel’s tuffest. Russ came back to Hollywood this year, and he owned the tunnel at STAPLES for the full 82, while CP3 has yet to miss out on the LeagueFits teams since we started doing this in 2018. Jerry Lorenzo’s favorite hooper, Frank Jackson is making his return to the LF teams, and so is Kuz, who was the first-ever LF Rookie of the Year and has turned up the heat more and more. He’s never afraid to push the boundaries of self-expression and is a permanent LF mainstay.

While these awards are based on the regular season, we’ll admit that JT is the last guy we want to see on the court, or in the tunnel, during this postseason.

Jalen Green claims his spot on the third team after a heavy dosage of love from the fan vote and bringing in some unique looks his rookie season. Caris LeVert is maybe the most underrated tunnel star in the League. No more sleeping on Levert, he’s like that on the court and in the closet.

One time for Myles Turner, who’s gotta be the tallest dude to ever make a LeagueFits team standing at 6’11. We’re also not going to let y’all snub Jared Vanderbilt this year because he deserves this one, and Pj Tucker is gonna have a permanent spot on the LeagueFits teams as long as he plays in this League. True legend and true drip OG.

Nobody in the freshman class went harder post All-Star Game than Scottie Barnes. He’s surely cemented as a future LeagueFits and NBA star. Jonathan Kuminga’s been doing it his own way his entire life. No surprises he’s the same way in the tunnel.

Josh Christopher was the first (and we think the only) high school player to ever be posted on LeagueFits. This has been in the works for years. And, if you watched even five seconds of the 2021 NBA draft, you knew Jalen Green was going to be a superstar.

David Duke Jr held nothing back with his bold play on the court and in the tunnel his rookie campaign. The undrafted rook surpassed every expectation that was set, and it’s just the beginning.

Consistency matters in a season that’s 82-plus games long and Nickeil Alexander-Walker routinely delivered. Then we’ve got the LF fan favorite, Tyler Herro, who burst onto the scene as our rookie of the year a few years back and has kept the bar high since.

Jordan Poole might be from the midwest, but he embraced the laid-back California style to the fullest this year, while Thanasis Antetokounmpo used the Milwaukee winters as the perfect reason to consistently layer up, earning his first-ever LeagueFits award.

James Harden might be an OG in the tunnel, but he’s been dressing since before LF was even an idea. Tristan Thompson played in a few cities this year, and he dressed up in all of them. He earns LeagueFits awards honors for the second straight season.

And last but definitely not least, we confirmed on the Survival of the Fitted Pod that Gary Trent Jr. had the fit of the year. It’s only right he gets an LF awards nod.

The post The 2021-22 All-LeagueFits Teams Awards Results appeared first on SLAM.

Butler’s 41-point effort is his fifth of the postseason. He is the second player in franchise history to record five 40+ point efforts.

Jimmy Buckets enacted an all around MasterClass.

41 PTS
9 REB
5 AST
4 STL
3 BLK
63% FGM

: @MiamiHEAT pic.twitter.com/2R7iyMoMTQ

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) May 18, 2022

Coming out of the break, Boston was up by eight; just three minutes into the third quarter, Miami took a lead they would never surrender after Butler knocked down a put-back layup. The lead-changing layup was a part of a game-changing 22-2 run punctuated by back-to-back-back steals from Max Strus and Butler to take a 10-point.

That double-digit lead eventually grew to 20 points after Tyler Herro hit three free throws a 1:15 into the fourth quarter after getting fouled on a three-point attempt.

“Keep the game easy,” Butler said about what was said in the locker room during halftime. “Simple. We gotta learn how to capitalize off of their mistakes, and we gotta get back. I think that’s what changed in the second half.”

Masterful in the midrange.
(via @ESPNNBA) pic.twitter.com/Q57Dh8Pgtx

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) May 18, 2022

Butler was the catalyst for Miami imposing their will in the second half. The Marquette alum scored 27 points in the second half, along with three assists, three steals, and four rebounds (two on the offensive glass).

When Boston tried to capitalize on a 10-0 run that cut Miami’s lead to nine points with 7:35 seconds left on the clock, Miami continued to impose their will, silencing Boston each time they made it a single-digit game with triples from P.J. Tucker and Strus.

Their job on Jayson Tatum illustrated Miami’s second-half effort. Miami held the Duke alum to eight points after Tatum scored 21 in the first half, tied for a career-high in the first half. The defensive intensity on Tatum was highlighted by Butler blocking Tatum on a three-pointer from the left corner pocket. Miami also forced the St. Louis native to turn the ball over seven times.

“Contesting every shot,’ Butler said about Miami’s key to defending Tatum in the second half. “Try not to foul; he’s crafty as hell and just putting multiple bodies in front of him.”

Jimmy Butler is everywhere.
(via @NBA) pic.twitter.com/d8eKSNt2CK

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) May 18, 2022

Boston will look to tie the Eastern Conference Finals when they face Miami on Thursday’s Game 6.

The post Miami Heat ‘Keep the Game Easy’ in Game 1 Win Over Boston appeared first on SLAM.

Boston is coming in hot after blowing out the Bucks in Sunday’s Game 7 thanks to the hot scoring of Jayson Tatum, who has emerged as a top superstar as he averaged 28.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, 6.1 assists per game in 41.2 minutes per game. The man who will likely be taking on the challenge of guarding Tatum will be Jimmy Butler, who has reclaimed his spot as a top superstar, averaging 28.7 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game.

“Either team that we were to end up facing, whether it be Milwaukee or Boston, is a really, really, really good team,” Butler said per ESPN. “It is Boston. We’re looking forward to it. I guess you got to beat the best to be the best.”

Slowing down Tatum, who’s scored 30+ in four games and scored 46 points in Game 6 of the Boston-Milwaukee series, will be pivotal to Miami advancing to their NBA Finals since 2020.

Meanwhile, Butler has scored at least 40 points twice and dropped 30+ points three times.

Locking in on the two featured weapons of their respective weapons will be pivotal for the success of both Eastern Conference titans.

“He’s one of the best in the game right now,” Butler said. “As much attention as he draws on the offensive end — and then I think what’s really impressive is the way that he’s picked up his defensive intensity. You got to tip your hat to that and respect him; I think those are the guys that you want to go up against.”

The post Jimmy Butler Looking Forward to Matchup With Jayson Tatum appeared first on SLAM.

The St. Loius legend outdueled Giannis Antetokounmpo (44 points, 20 rebounds, and six assists), responding to a challenging Game 6 loss at the perfect time to force a pivotal Game 7. The Celtics’ 108-96 win was cemented by Tatum’s 16 points effort in the fourth quarter.

“I wasn’t going to leave anything out there and have any regrets,” Tatum said. “Just trying to do what it took.”

St. Louis’ Finest.

46 PTS
7 3PM
9 REB

: @tb_works pic.twitter.com/VekFBGX5p8

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) May 14, 2022

Tatum’s primetime effort was a response to the Greek Freak unleashing an 8-0 to cut a 14-point deficit to within four with just eight minutes to go in Game 6. The Celtics then responded with their own burst led by Tatum. The former Duke Blue Devil scored Boston’s next 11 points on a fadeaway, plus a pair of three-pointers.

JAYSON TATUM, BAG TALK.
(via @NBATV) pic.twitter.com/X9Hm6EDW1h

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) May 14, 2022

The Celtics then went on their own 8-0 run, powered by two triples from Tatum and Jaylen Brown and punctuated by a Marcus Smart step-back to give Boston a 100-87 lead with 4:20 remaining in the game.

“I was excited to play today,” Tatum said when asked what got him going during Friday’s Game 6. “Game 6, this is a big moment for all of us. For myself and the team, how we would respond. Losing Game 5 was gonna make us or break us, and I think we showed a lot of toughness and growth coming out here and getting a win on the road and giving us a chance.

Ain't nothing stopping this man tonight. (via @NBA) pic.twitter.com/ThGhMZmH1L

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) May 14, 2022

Game 7 between the Celtics and the defending champion Bucks will shift back to Boston on Sunday. The last time these two teams met in a Game 7 setting was in 2018, with the Celtics prevailing at home, 112-96. This year, the Celtics-Bucks semifinal series has been entertaining and intense but has yet to feature a winner that has won more than two games in a row.

The post Jayson Tatum On His 46 Point Outing: ‘This Was a Big Moment For All of Us’ appeared first on SLAM.

“I view it as guarding him on an island where it’s just you and him, and you have to do your job… he started being a lot more aggressive in the second half and getting downhill and creating for himself. But, it’s just one of those things you just hunker down and trust the work you’ve done and do your best to contain one of the best players in the world.”

Through the two games thus far, the two-time MVP has been guarded by Williams for ten minutes and 20 seconds. He’s shot 44.4 percent from the field, a drastic 12.4 percent difference from his field goal percentage in the first round (56.8 percent).

For comparison’s sake, when you add up the minutes total of Giannis being guarded by Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Robert Williams III, the Greek Freak has shot 72.3 percent from the field in six minutes and 31 seconds.

Grant Williams will look to bring that number down in Game 3, which is Saturday at 3:30 pm EST in Milwaukee.

The post How Grant Williams Approached ‘Containing’ Giannis Antetokounmpo in Game 2: ‘It’s Just You and Him’ appeared first on SLAM.

Two seconds later, a 25-year-old Pierce side-stepped to his left and launched a trey ball to the back of the rim and through the net as TD Garden exploded.

Coming off the heels of a first-round sweep against the Brooklyn Nets, Celtics star forward Jayson Tatum dished out some commentary on Pierce’s clutch step-back bucket.

Jayson Tatum shares his thoughts on this big-time Paul Pierce shot from this day in 2003! #NBA75 pic.twitter.com/qiVVdgk4Nl

— NBA History (@NBAHistory) April 27, 2022

“I felt like he told him what he was about to do. Talking to him, side-step trey ball in the Garden. Something I might do,” Tatum said.

Tatum’s duffy has been on full display since hitting a game-winning layup in Game 1 against the Nets at home, while the side-step trey ball has been a staple in the young star’s bountiful arsenal of offensive weapons. In their sweep against Brooklyn, Tatum averaged a team-high 29.5 points, 7.3 assists, and 4.5 rebounds per game while shooting a scintillating 41.9 percent from beyond the arc.

He’s taken the step as a two-way superstar against one of the game’s best scoring threats, holding Kevin Durant to just 12 points and 3-18 shooting as his primary defender throughout the series.

With Milwaukee entering Game 5 tonight against the Chicago Bulls with a 3-1 lead, the Celtics and Tatum might soon find their matchup for the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The post Jayson Tatum Shares His Thoughts on Paul Pierce’s Clutch Three 19 Years Later appeared first on SLAM.

“The resilience we have. The approach we have. The work we put in. And you know, learning. We had a lot of games to learn from early in the year.”

Smart didn’t only dish out the game-winning dime to Tatum; he also recorded 20 points, seven rebounds, six assists, and two steals. However, it will likely be his last-second dime to Tatum that will be remembered for quite some time. Smart gives credit to Coach Ime Udoka for trusting his team to make the right decisions in the last play of Game 1.

“You’ve gotta credit Ime [Udoka] for trusting us in that situation,” Smart said.

Coach Udoka and company will get the chance to repeat their magic at home on Wednesday at 7 PM EST for Game 2 before heading to Brooklyn on Saturday at 7:30 PM EST for Game 3.

The post Marcus Smart Credits Boston’s ‘Resilience’ Following Game 1 Victory appeared first on SLAM.

While addressing reporters after practice on Wednesday, Tatum said Irving had expressed how he would have gone about the situation differently.

Jayson Tatum on his time with Kyrie Irving in Boston: “Obviously we’ve talked and there’s some things that he probably told me he wish he could do (or) would’ve done differently.”

— Brian Robb (@BrianTRobb) April 13, 2022

“Obviously, we’ve talked, and there’s some things that he probably told me he wish he could do (or) would’ve done differently,” Tatum said on Wednesday.

The three-time All-Star and former third overall pick in 2017 discussed how Irving’s approach to the game rubbed off on him as a second-year player.

“Just kind of watching a superstar. I got to see him every day, see how he worked, worked on his body, and prepared for games and things like that,” Tatum said. “He’ll be the first to tell me that I can just learn from the encounters that we had.”

Tatum and the No. 2 seeded Celtics’ will face off against the No. 7 seeded Brooklyn Nets in Game 1 of the first-round on Sunday.

The post Jayson Tatum Shares Conversations He and Kyrie Irving Have Had Since His Departure appeared first on SLAM.

In Chicago tonight, Jayson Tatum just scored his 2,000th point of the season. pic.twitter.com/TzE0y6bepK

— Sean Grande (@SeanGrandePBP) April 7, 2022

The Duke alum joins Sam Jones, John Havlicek, Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Paul Pierce, and Isaiah Thomas in the exclusive club.

Tatum averaged 26.9 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game, all career-high numbers, in 75 appearances this season. He has scored 40+ three times and has scored 50+ twice this season, including a season-high 54 against the Brooklyn Nets in March. Tatum has also posted 30+ points 28 times this season.

Per Keith Smith, the Boston Celtics can clinch no worse than the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference if they get one more win over their last three games or if the Bulls and the Raptors have to lose one more game over their final stretch of regular-season games.

The Celtics have road games with the playoff-bound Bulls, Bucks, and Grizzlies to close out their regular season.

The post Jayson Tatum Becomes Seventh Ever Celtic to Score 2k Points in One Season appeared first on SLAM.

The Wichita native, who is also a two-time Gatorade Kansas Boys Basketball Player of the Year, has been ballin’ for Sunrise Christian Academy this season and averaged 17.9 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. The 25-1 Buffaloes are the top seed in this year’s GEICO High School Nationals Tournament set to start later this month.

Ranked No. 8 in the Class of 2022, the elite, 6-7 wing is also a 2022 McDonald’s All-American and will represent the United States at the Nike Hoop Summit next month.

On Tuesday, Dick was presented with the honor by Boston Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum alongside friends, family, teammates, and coaches. Tatum was the 2015-16 Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year.

Moments after being presented the award, SLAM caught up with Dick to talk about his prolific high school career, meeting Tatum virtually, and what he’s hoping to achieve at Kansas.

SLAM: What’s up Gradey! How are you doing, what emotions are you feeling right now?

Gradey Dick: Man it’s crazy, it’s been a wild day so far but I’m blessed for everything.

SLAM: You’re the first Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year to come from the state of Kansas, what does this honor mean to you and your community?

GD: I hope that it kind of puts Kansas on the map, I know we’re not really thought of too much of a basketball state but, to show our history and all the guys that have gone through this, guys and girls, I think it’s huge. For me to kind of help do that is just…it’s crazy. I’m blessed and thankful.

SLAM: What was going through your mind when you first saw Tatum on the live feed?

GD: It was wild, I mean, we weren’t expecting it at all. My whole team was there and just a few coaches and some of the faculty, and then he popped up on this big projector and kind of talked to me individually and then once he announced that I was the National Gatorade Player of the Year, everyone came kind of rushing in with the trophy and everything. I was extremely surprised and just at a loss at words.

SLAM: How does it feel to be virtually handed this award by one of the brightest stars in the game today?

GD: It was huge to see and to talk with one of the guys I watch, probably one of the most in the League right now. And just taking some of his [film] and watching [it] and seeing different kind of moves I want to add into my bag, and being able to talk to him personally and hearing from him, just kind of his reactions of when he was handed the award is just a dream come true.

SLAM: What goes through your head as you start to reflect on your four years in high school?

GD: All these awards and just the prestigious different things that have been coming, its just really huge and all the goals I written down with my dad at the start of the year and being able to have the ability to achieve them by the end of the year is just a dream come true. But I feel like off the court is what’s most important. What I do in my community and kind of leaving that legacy for the future.

SLAM: Soon, you’ll be making that two and a half hour trek to Kansas. Aside from its close proximity to home, why did you chose Kansas over other programs such as Texas Tech and Baylor?

GD: Just the family aspect that’s all around Lawrence with the coaches, the players, and even some of the teachers on some of the visits I went on. Especially the fans at Allen Fieldhouse, it’s one of the craziest venues in college basketball and when I envision myself stepping on the floor for the first game, it’s just adrenaline pumping. It’s going to be one of the craziest feelings I’ll never forget.

SLAM: You’ll also be joining former teammate Zach Clemence in the locker room at Kansas, what are you most looking forward to when you reuniting with him and the rest of the team?

GD: Just being back together, and just hanging out with the new guys, not being so far away from them. Zach was actually like my roommate at Sunrise last year, so just to be back with him at the school is going to be the time of our lives.

SLAM: What do you think that you can bring to the table for the Jayhawks to continue to compete at such a high level?

GD: I think I bring my versatility just as a player and due to my size and everything like that. I have a lot of different ways to score the ball, so I feel like coming in with that versatility, and [I’ll] just hit the ground running right from the get-go as a freshman.

SLAM: You’ll also be joined by two other standouts in your class, MJ Rice and Ernest Udeh Jr. What do you think you guys will achieve as a group?

GD: I think sky’s the limit, for us. Even if we’re young, guys will see who’s returning and who’s not, and just us freshmen coming in, I know we’ve talked a lot about how we need to be prepared right from the start. Just coming in early and leading the team.

SLAM: How are you going to prepare for your freshman season?

GD: I think we know after talking with Coach Self that he expects us to kind of just throw us into the fire early. So like I was talking about earlier, just being prepared and being consistent on a daily basis [in] our workouts and everything like that so we can be confident right from the start.

SLAM: Going back to the Gatorade award, where would you rank this moment thus far in your basketball career and why?

GD: It’s definitely number one. I mean it’s one of the most prestigious award that a basketball player can achieve, and I think the thing that makes this award so special is not only what I did on the court this year, but what I did off the court in my community and at my school. That makes this thing so much more special.

SLAM: How do you want to be remembered at both Sunrise Christian Academy and Wichita Collegiate School?

GD: Just someone that’s always going to be themselves and is confident in whatever they do.

Holden Velasco is an editorial intern at SLAM and a sophomore at CUNY Queens College with a Media Studies major and Writing minor. When he’s not emerged in the basketball world, you can find him rewatching Revenge of the Sith or the latest Marvel movie. Follow him on Twitter, @HoldenVelasco.

Photos courtesy of Gatorade.

The post Kansas Commit Gradey Dick Earns Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year appeared first on SLAM.

Marcus Smart came up huge with some big shots down the stretch and finished the game with 20 points, eight assists, and four rebounds.

In addition, the defensive presence Smart had against the high-powered Warriors team allowed for the Celtics to dominate on both sides of the ball. Jayson Tatum interrupted Smart’s post-game interview to let the country know Smart deserves a Defensive Player of the Year bid.

“This the Defensive Player of the Year. I know it’s been big men lately, but they gotta go back to the guards.” Tatum said.

The Celtics held the Warriors to 88 points, the 11th time Beantown has held a team to 90 points or fewer in a game. They currently have the top defensive rating in the League at 105.5. 

Smart this season has a total of 72 steals and 23 blocks. The last guard to win DPOY honors was Gary Payton in 1995-96, who finished with 231 steals and 19 blocks that season.

This win put the Celtics (42-28) have won eight of their last 10, winning six of their previous seven making them one of the hottest teams in the Eastern Conference. They are sitting at fourth in the East right now and look to continue the winning as they prepare to play the Kings on Friday.

The post Jayson Tatum on Marcus Smart: ‘This is the Defensive Player of the Year’ appeared first on SLAM.

As long as Tatum scores the ball at a high rate, the Celtics can’t lose. In a special night honoring former Celtics legends leading up to the jersey retirement this weekend, Boston turned in one of the best defensive performances of the year, completely shutting down the Detroit Pistons 114-103 for their fifth straight win.

Tatum dropped 30+ points in his fifth straight game, matching the longest streak of his career with the 2019-20 campaign from Feb 23-March 4.

.@jaytatum0 refuses to cool down

Check out tonight’s @gatorade Player of the Game pic.twitter.com/PiBwlmRzBY

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) March 12, 2022

Tatum finished with 31 points on 13-27 shooting after scoring 33, 37, 54, and 44 points in his previous four games.

The Celtics took some time at the intermission to honor some former players who traveled for the jersey retirement ceremony of Kevin Garnett on Sunday. A few members of the 2008 NBA championship team attended the game, including Paul Pierce, James Posey, Leon Powe, Brian Scalabrine, Dana Barros, Antoine Walker, and even current Pistons forward Kelly Olynyk, who played four years with the franchise.

Bill Russell was a part of the celebration but did so from home.

While we missed him in Boston tonight, @RealBillRussell joined in on the celebrations from home pic.twitter.com/Io51eHYIZU

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) March 12, 2022

The Celtics take on the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday when Kevin Garnett becomes the 24th Celtic to have his jersey retired.

The post Jayson Tatum Scores 31 On Boston Celtics Legends Celebration Night appeared first on SLAM.

Fresh off of scoring a season-high 54 points at home against the Brooklyn Nets on national television Sunday, Tatum took his high-scoring tour on the road to Charlotte, where he lit the Hornets up for 44 points to lead the Celtics to a 115-101 win Wednesday night.

With 98 points combined in back-to-back games, Tatum tied Kevin McHale’s franchise scoring record over a two-game span.

Certified. Bucket. Getter.

Jayson Tatum dropped 44 tonight

(: @celtics) pic.twitter.com/SyTzLAXfC8

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) March 10, 2022

Setting Boston scoring records is starting to become a trend for the three-time All-Star as he just recently tied Larry Bird for 50 point games in franchise history over the weekend.

After Jaylen Brown called Tatum “unstoppable” after the Nets game, Celtics teammate Derrick White talked about the influence the superstar forward’s hot streak has on how the team gels.

“They’re doubling, so everybody’s in rotation kind of chasing,” said Derrick White via NBA.com. “So it’s an opportunity for me and everybody else just to take advantage of what the defense gives us and be aggressive.”

Tatum simply cannot miss rn (via @celtics) pic.twitter.com/a6rVDqDDXE

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) March 10, 2022

On the other hand, the former Duke Blue Devil is appreciative and thankful after working his way through a slow start at the beginning of the year.

“I’m in a lot better zone than I was to start the season,” Tatum said with a smile. “But it was just part of it. I believe in the work I put in, and I never doubted myself. I’m just thankful my teammates didn’t doubt me either.”

Not only is he matching scoring marks from legends like Bird and McHale, but Tatum also has a few of his own. The 24-year-old forward owns three of the top four scoring totals over three games in team history.

Most points in a 3-game span in Celtics history

1. Jayson Tatum – 135 PTS (3/3/22 – 3/9/22)
2. Jayson Tatum – 128 PTS (4/28/21 – 5/2/21)
3. Larry Bird – 126 PTS (3/12/85 – 3/15/85)
4. Jayson Tatum – 124 PTS (3/1/22 – 3/6/22) pic.twitter.com/MctBp5jaqJ

— Taylor Snow (@taylorcsnow) March 10, 2022

He gets to try to continue his hot streak Thursday night against the Detroit Pistons.

The post Jayson Tatum Ties Kevin McHale’s Two-Game Celtics Scoring Record appeared first on SLAM.

KD, a walking bucket by his onw right, found himself very impressed with the overall performance of Tatum, calling him a “shot maker.”

Kevin Durant on Jayson Tatum: “He made some tough shots and three point shots over us… he’s an elite shot maker.” pic.twitter.com/KEkhTXQS7F

— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) March 6, 2022

The term “shot-maker” was nowhere near attached to former Duke Blue Devil when he was mired in a considerable shooting slump featured by a stretch where he missed 20 straight 3-point shot attempts. Now the pendulum has completely swung the other way for Tatum. In his last three games, he has shot 52.5 percent (42-80) from the floor while averaging 41 points per game, which has led to three Celtics wins.

The 24-year-old forward has taken the next step as a superstar by putting up big games against other top stars. Before this one-on-one matchup with Durant, Tatum scored 33 points on a 12-25 shooting clip in a win over Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks. After that, he dropped 37 points against Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies.

“Those matchups — when you’re playing one of the better teams in the league, two of the best guys — as a competitor, those are the kinds of moments that as a kid you looked forward to,” Tatum told ESPN about playing his peers. “When those opportunities come, you try to make the most of it.”

It’s about drive. It’s about power. Tatum wants this dub and it shows here on his 49th point. Coming down to the wire on this Celtics vs. Nets game.

(Via @NBA) pic.twitter.com/741luVB9kC

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) March 6, 2022

Tatum’s play coincides with the overall improvement of play from the Boston Celtics, who have won 21 of their last 27 games. Something that was not lost on his teammate, Jaylen Brown, who spoke on just that after the game.

Jaylen Brown on the Celtics offense: “This man to the left was unstoppable, that helps your offense… all season we’re just trying to make the right plays, learn and grow” pic.twitter.com/H3q65QMddO

— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) March 6, 2022

The Celtics take on the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte.

The post Jaylen Brown Calls Jayson Tatum ‘Unstoppable’ After 54-Point Performance appeared first on SLAM.

With his recent 54-point outburst, Jayson Tatum is now tied with Larry Bird for the most 50-point games in Celtics history.

“This is what I dreamed about as a kid, and I waited my whole life to get to,” Tatum said per CBS Sports. “Obviously I have a long way to go, a long way to what I’m trying to accomplish, but [I’m] staying in the moment and just enjoying it. Having fun doing what I love everyday.” 

Only two Celtics with four 50+ point games pic.twitter.com/c0GFb0yG2u

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) March 6, 2022

Tatum kept things efficient shooting 16-30 from the field overall, knocking down eight three-pointers while shooting 14-17 from the free throw line. He also added five rebounds and three assists.

It’s about drive. It’s about power. Tatum wants this dub and it shows here on his 49th point. Coming down to the wire on this Celtics vs. Nets game.

(Via @NBA) pic.twitter.com/741luVB9kC

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) March 6, 2022

The Boston Celtics hot streak coincides with their franchise player as they have won five of their last six games. They’re currently ranked fifth in the Eastern Conference.

The Boston Celtics go on the road to take on the Charlotte Hornets Wednesday night.

The post Jayson Tatum Ties Larry Bird For Most 50 Point Games in Celtics History appeared first on SLAM.

On Thursday night, LeBron James and Kevin Durant – the two captains for the All-Star game – selected their teams for the All-Star Game taking place in just under two weeks.

Each captain had to select their starting lineups first and then select their reserves. Because Durant is injured and will not be playing in the game, nine players were available to be drafted instead of eight, with Jayson Tatum replacing Durant as a starter.

James opened the draft up by selecting Giannis Antetokounmpo first overall, with Durant using his first pick to draft Joel Embiid.

James rounded off his starting lineup by selecting Stephen Curry, DeMar DeRozan, and Nikola Jokic. Durant’s starting lineup will consist of Embiid, Tatum, Ja Morant, Andrew Wiggins, and Trae Young. Wiggins and Young were the final two starters selected in the draft.

Between the two, Durant has the least experienced starting lineup with Wiggins and Morant, both first-time All-Stars and Young just in his second All-Star Game.

Durant got the first pick to open up the reserves section of the draft and used the pick to select Devin Booker, and James used his first pick to draft Luka Doncic.

Durant filled out his reserves by selecting Karl Anthony-Towns, Zach LaVine, Dejounte Murray, Khris Middleton, LaMelo Ball, and Rudy Gobert.

James reserves will be Darius Garland, Chris Paul, Jimmy Butler, Donovan Mitchell, Fred VanVleet, and James Harden.

Harden was the last pick of the All-Star Draft, with Durant creating a funny moment where he opted against drafting his former teammate, who was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday, to take Gobert instead.

The All-Star Game is scheduled to occur in Cleveland on Sunday, Feb. 20.

The post NBA All-Star Teams Set, Giannis Antetokounmpo Selected First Overall appeared first on SLAM.

Entering Sunday’s game against the Washington Wizards, Boston was on a two-game losing streak and sitting one game below .500 in the 2021-22 campaign. In need of a win to get things back on track, Tatum rose to the occasion. He scored 31 points in the first half alone, then finished with 51 total points in a huge win.

The upcoming schedule for the Celtics is fairly manageable. While they’ll go up against some teams that are currently in the playoff picture, there’s a handful of contests in their next ten against teams they should be heavy favorites against.

If Boston is going to become a real threat and feel comfortable making a splash at the deadline, the front office might need to see a string of wins over the next week or two. If that’s going to happen, the Celtics will need more huge performances from their superstar forward in Tatum.

The post Jayson Tatum Pours in 51 Points as Celtics Earn Much-Needed Win appeared first on SLAM.

Boston now leads the NBA with four blown leads of at least 19 points which is twice as much as any other team. After allowing two huge Knicks runs in the second half to pull ahead. Boston needed this shot from Jayson Tatum to tie the game with 1.5 seconds before RJ Barrett’s game-winner.

Tatum is CLUTCH. pic.twitter.com/26x5AA8DDs

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 7, 2022

The fact the Celtics have been one of the league’s worst fourth-quarter performers has Udoka simply questioning his team’s mental toughness via ESPN.

“I think it’s a lack of mental toughness to fight through those adverse times,” Udoka said per ESPN after Barrett banked in a three-pointer at the buzzer to stun the Celtics. “To your point, it’s across the board. It’s a turnover here, a bad shot here, a missed defensive assignment here, and several missed rebounds tonight.

This angle of RJ Barrett’s game-winner

(via Chris.paesano/IG) pic.twitter.com/5D8njJ5doj

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 7, 2022

“So it’s a lot of different things. And then, like I said, a calming presence to slow it down and get us what we want is really what you need at that point. And sometimes, we all get caught up in it.”

The loss places Boston in 11th place in the Eastern Conference, and they will be below .500 at the halfway point of the season. Udoka stated changes had to be made in his teams’ approach to prevent late-game collapses and breakdowns. Tatum still believes there is time to turn things around.

“We just have to regroup,” said Tatum. “Obviously losses, this stretch kind of is tough, losing leads and just not finishing out in the fourth quarter.

“I think we just have to look at the big picture and the grand scheme of things and look back to those years when we were going to the conference finals, and it makes you really appreciate those moments. Because it’s hard, it’s not easy.

The Boston Celtics (18-21) have a chance to redeem themselves against the same Knicks at home on Saturday night.

The post Boston Celtics Head Coach Calls Out Team For ‘Lack of Mental Toughness’ appeared first on SLAM.

Celtics star Jayson Tatum was the subject of a lot of criticism last month when ESPN’s Tim Bontemps reported a quote from an anonymous assistant coach in the Eastern Conference criticizing Tatum’s desire to win.

“Jayson Tatum is about Jayson Tatum,” an Eastern Conference assistant coach said. “I don’t think he cares about winning now, and if he does, it is on his terms.

“He doesn’t want to score 15 and win. He wants to score 39 and win.”

Stevens, now the president of basketball operations for the Celtics, slammed the quote calling it “idiotic” when speaking on the Toucher and Rich show on 98.5 The Sports Hub.

“That quote was absolutely ridiculous, to be honest,” Stevens said. “I don’t ever react to that stuff, and I actually sent a note to one of the people I work with like ‘this is idiotic.'”

Tatum himself has even spoken publically about the reports on Wednesday.

Tatum has more than shown his worth as an NBA player, already being named to two All-Star teams in his first four full seasons in the league, and is averaging 19.7 points per game over his career.

However, it’s easy to see why he’s being criticized heavily this season. Tatum is holding career lows in both field goal percentage (39.7%) and three-point percentage (31.9%). Tatum has also taken a small step back as a play-maker, dropping from a career-high 4.3 assists per game last season to 3.6 this season.

It’s also much easier to criticize a player for not wanting to win when his team isn’t playing up to their previous standard. Boston is currently 8th in the Eastern Conference, holding a 12-10 record.

The post Brad Stevens Slams Anonymous Quotes Criticizing Tatum appeared first on SLAM.

All I’m gonna say is I see you @jaytatum0 keep up the hard work! It was a treat watching you put up 37 against the Lakers the other night @celtics @NBA all this in the last 4 games pic.twitter.com/a674EuS9Ho

— TheBillRussell (@RealBillRussell) November 23, 2021

Russell witnessed Tatum dropping 37 points when they beat the Lakers, 130,108, in TD Garden, and have won six of their last eight and last three contests after adding wins against the Thunder and the Rockets, as mentioned earlier. Tatum seemed to appreciate the shout-out from Russell, tweeting this response to the 11-time champ.

Appreciate you living legend! https://t.co/YoSQvwhYKs

— Jayson Tatum (@jaytatum0) November 23, 2021

After struggling with cold shooting in the first 14 games of the season, Tatum has turned the corner, shooting a paltry 38.6 percent from the field. Since then, Tatum has knocked down 50 percent of shots in the last four contests and is now scoring 33.5 points and is grabbing 8.5 rebounds per game in that same span.

After shooting just 38.6% from the floor over his first 14 games, Tatum has knocked down 50% of his shots in three of his last four contests, averaging 33.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game in that span.

After a shaky start to the season, the Celtics are regaining much of their health with the return of Jaylen Brown and Robert Williams from injury. Combined with the regained shooting touch of Tatum, Boston is primed to gain momentum and establish itself as a significant threat in the Eastern Conference.

The post Bill Russell To Jayson Tatum: ‘Keep Up the Hard Work!’ appeared first on SLAM.

At the time Brown suffered his injury November 4, Brown was averaging a career-high 25.6 points and 6.1 on 49.3 shooting from the field. As Boston’s starting center, Williams was putting up near-double-double (10.0 points and 9.2 rebounds per game).

The Celtics went 5-3 without Brown and won seven of their last 10 games behind the improved play of Jayson Tatum (25.2 points and 8.6 rebounds per game) and consistent production from Schroder, who is averaging 17.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 5.2 dimes per game.

The timing couldn’t be better for the Celtics (9-8) to be getting healthy, who could have their entire roster and original starting lineup when they play the Nets (12-5), Wednesday.

The post Jaylen Brown Set to Return Against the Rockets appeared first on SLAM.

The team came together following Celtics guard Marcus Smarts’ comments in a postgame interview where he stated that Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum need to pass the ball more (per ESPN). Smart’s comments came after Boston’s 128-114 upset against the Bulls, where they were outscored 39-11 in the fourth quarter at home.

“The last few days, we’ve just been focused on Orlando,” Brown says, per ESPN. “That was the goal: come out, try to get a win. That was it. Team meeting — just an opportunity to talk as a group, get some communication going in, and move forward.”

“At the end of the day, we’ve been playing basketball together for a long time, all of us, especially our core group. So when it comes down to it, it’s all about trying to find ways to win, and that’s what the conversation was about, et cetera. The last two days, we’ve just been focused on Orlando, and now we’re focused on Miami.”

While both Tatum (14 points, six rebounds, three assists) and Brown’s (team-high 28 points, five boards, three assists) assist’s averages have dropped this season, Brown acknowledges that there are areas he and his teammate could improve in:

“I can do a lot of things better,” Brown says, per ESPN. “Try to find ways to get guys going, talking to Jayson, trying to find ways to get him going. Just making our teammates better. I think that’s part of being a leader and things like that. I still have a lot of growth to do that I’m actively working on. But that’s my challenge, and I’m focusing my energy on that. Just continuing to watch film and get better and see how I can make my teammates better.”

The Celtics look to continue their winning ways Thursday against the Miami Heat (6-1).

The post Jaylen Shares His Thoughts On Celtics’ Team Meeting, Says Team is ‘Focused on Miami’ appeared first on SLAM.

“Every team knows we’re going to Jayson [Tatum] and Jaylen [Brown], and every team is programmed and studies to stop Jayson and Jaylen,” Smart says, per CBS Sports. “I think everybody’s scouting report is to make those guys try and pass the ball. They don’t want to pass the ball and that’s something that they’re going to learn. They’re still learning and we’re proud of the progress they are making, but they are going to have to make another step and find ways to not only create for themselves but create for others on this team.

“To open up the court for them later in the game where they don’t always have to take those tough shots or take tough matchups when they do get the 1-on-1 and see a trap. Just reading that It’s something that we’ve been asking for them to do and they’re learning. We just got to continue to help those guys do that and help our team.”

Smart who scored 16 points, one rebound, and four steals in last nights contest also expressed wanting to be more involved offensively:

“There’s only so much I can do without the ball in my hands, I just stand in the corner,” Smart says, per CBS Sports.

“When we’re running plays for your best players, every team knows that and they do a good job of shutting that down. We can’t allow that, when they shut that down we can’t keep trying to go to those guys, we gotta abort that and find them another way to get them the ball in spots that they need the ball. And like I said for me, I can only do so much standing in the corner, or when I come up and give the ball away.”

The franchise ranks 27th in the League in isolation offense, scoring just 0.74 points per possession. Jaylen Brown ranks 13th on points per possession while Tatum is 38th in the league per the NBA. The Celtics are ranked 27th in the League with a 110.3 defensive rating and 19th in offensive rating at 104.6.

The post Marcus Smart After Third Straight Loss: ‘There’s Only So Much I Can Do Without The Ball In My Hands’ appeared first on SLAM.

Jules Gutierrez has been cutting Jayson Tatum’s hair since he was a little boy. When asked about the importance of hair and the League, he explains, “A barber’s work can be so influential to someone’s confidence and style.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by JULESUNIQUE/// (@julesunique)

He elaborated: “Seeing Jayson’s influence with his basketball skills alone and how that transcends to his style is very humbling to me…[and] knowing that people around the world want that same haircut is surreal.” 

Another tenured stylist, Saadiyah, is the living legend behind Allen Iverson’s larger-than-life hairstyles. She has been on set for commercial and magazine shoots, as well as traveled the world to ensure his iconic hair is presentable and tightly manicured. Saadiyah shares how her client opened doors: “Before the cornrows, there was the afro, and Allen [Iverson] broke through the glass ceiling by representing our culture, being himself and doing things his way.” 

Terrence “Toot” Collins is an accomplished barber with NBA and NFL clientele. He cuts the Atlanta Hawks De’Andre Hunter’s hair and has been a mentor and friend. Collins shares, “I told him when he was 8 years old, that he would be an NBA player…he used to come to the shop with a basketball.”

“De’Andre’s dad died and his brother Aaron, mom and sister surrounded him with good positive people.”

“The barber is really important to a person’s development,” Collins says, “not just the physical appearance, more importantly their life.”

Anthony Gilbert is a Philadelphia native and graduate of Temple University. He currently writes for SLAM Magazine and is one of the founders of SOLE Collector Magazine. Follow @axgilbert on Twitter and Instagram for his thoughts, inspiration, and updates from within and around the NBA.

The post The Barbers and Stylists Behind the NBA’s Freshest Haircuts and Braids, from Allen Iverson to Jayson Tatum appeared first on SLAM.

The United States will take on Spain at 12:40 am ET on Tuesday, Aug. 3.

The #basketball knockout matchups are set:#FRA vs #ITA#SLO vs #GER#USA vs #ESP#AUS vs #ARG

Who’s your pick for #gold ?#Tokyo2020

— Olympics (@Olympics) August 1, 2021

The Americans are heading into the quarterfinals with some momentum thanks to a 119-84 victory over the Czechs on Saturday to clinch second place behind France in the knockout stage. Jayson Tatum scored 27 points, Kevin Durant added 23 and set two USA Basketball men’s Olympic records, passing Carmelo Anthony in all-time points scored and all-time field goals made.

Set our Men’s Olympic scoring record & led us in two other stat columns. Elite @KDTrey5.

23 PTS (8-of-11 FG)
8 REB
6 AST

#USABMNT x #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/XKnGMBQ9VV

— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) July 31, 2021

U.S. coach Gregg Popovich discussed the team’s progress going into the later rounds via NBA.com.

“I think our guys really focused well and did a good job in gaining ground, day by day, practice by practice,” U.S. coach Gregg Popovich said. “Hopefully we’ll continue that moving forward. We have to if we want to be successful.”

The semifinal games are scheduled to take place on Thursday, Aug. 5 and the bronze and gold medal games take place on Saturday, Aug. 7.

The post USA Men’s Basketball Team Plays Spain in Quarterfinal Round appeared first on SLAM.

While this was a game the United States was supposed to win, head coach Gregg Popovich thinks this loss might end up being beneficial. 

“In a way I’m kind of glad it happened,” said Popovich after the game. “It means nothing if we don’t learn from it. It could be the most important thing in this tournament for us. To learn lessons from this.” 

Coming into Saturday’s matchup, Team USA was 54-2 in exhibition games. They’ll now fall to 54-3, which is still an extremely dominant record. 

For the United States, it will be about finding their identity as they’re still learning to play together efficiently, regardless of talent level. 

“None of us have ever played with each other, we’re just trying to figure it out,” said Jayson Tatum after the loss. “We don’t have three to four weeks. This is good for us, we’ll learn a lot from the film and we’ll regroup.”

The United States will take on Australia in their next exhibition game on Monday Evening. 

The post Gregg Popovich on Team USA Loss: ‘I’m Kind Of Glad It Happened’ appeared first on SLAM.

The 12-man roster is as follows.

• Kevin Durant, F, Brooklyn Nets
• Damian Lillard, G, Portland Trail Blazers
• Devin Booker, G, Phoenix Suns
• Jayson Tatum, F, Boston Celtics
• Bradley Beal, G, Washington Wizards
• Khris Middleton, G/F, Milwaukee Bucks
• Zach LaVine, G, Chicago Bulls
• Bam Adebayo, C, Miami Heat
• Draymond Green, F/C, Golden State Warriors
• Jrue Holiday, G, Milwaukee Bucks
• Kevin Love, F, Cleveland Cavaliers
• Jerami Grant, F, Detroit Pistons

Team USA’s basketball program had to whittle down a field of 57 potential roster additions down to 12 for the Olympic Games and several commitment decisions were very recent due to playoff scheduling. Nonetheless, the United States still managed to fill out a roster that will be considered favorites for the gold medal.

Brooklyn Nets guard James Harden had initially committed to the team, but withdrew to recover from a hamstring injury, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania. Phoenix Suns guard Chris Paul, whose team is currently in the Western Conference Finals with a 2-0 lead over the Los Angeles Clippers, recently withdrew his name as well (according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.)

That said, its possible that other players on the roster (namely Booker, Middleton and Holiday) could play in the NBA Finals. If that occurs, they could miss training camp for the Olympics.

Game 7 of the NBA Finals is scheduled for July 22, one day before the Olympic Games are set to begin.

The last time Team USA competed on the international stage, it finished in seventh-place in the 2019 FIBA World Cup due to a number of the league’s preeminent stars withdrawing from the competition. Before that tournament, the team had won 58 consecutive games in international competition dating back to the 2006 World Cup, 

The post Team USA Men’s Basketball Announces 12-Man Roster for Tokyo Olympics appeared first on SLAM.

Portland Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard and Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green are among the initial commitments to Team USA for the Tokyo Olympics this summer, sources tell me and @joevardon.

Story: https://t.co/jps6mGuQ4U

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 15, 2021

Speculation about Lillard joining the team began as early as 2016, when he dropped out of consideration for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, instead deciding to rehab a plantar fasciitis injury he dealt with the previous season.

In December 2020, Lillard mentioned he would not be playing in the Olympics if the Trail Blazers reached the 2021 NBA Finals.

However, Portland lost to the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the 2021 NBA Playoffs, freeing Lillard’s schedule and making his decision a bit easier. Lillard, who just wrapped up his ninth season in the league, averaged 28.8 points in the 2020-21 season and finished seventh in NBA MVP voting.

Green, unlike Lillard, was a part of the gold medal-winning squad in 2016. However, Green only played sparingly, averaging 1.9 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in eight games.

That being said, due to speculation that many players will abstain from joining Team USA (instead opting to rest and rehab after the shortened COVID-19 season), many expect Green to have a much larger role in 2020.

Per Charania’s report, Team USA should be putting the finishing touches on their roster for the Tokyo Olympics in late June, as training camp begins on July 7.

Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum is also expected to join Team USA’s ranks, after a sprained ankle knocked him out of the 2019 FIBA World Cup (a tournament in which Team USA finished with a disappointing seventh-place finish.

The post Damian Lillard, Draymond Green Commit to Team USA Ahead oTokyo Olympics appeared first on SLAM.

A participant in the 2021 MTN DEW 3-Point Contest — an All-Star Weekend event since the 1985-86 season — Curry defeated Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine, Utah Jazz guards Mike Conley and Donovan Mitchell, along with Boston Celtics wings Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum to emerge as the victor.

While Brown, LaVine and Mitchell would be eliminated in the first round (with LaVine and Mitchell attempting to become the first former Slam Dunk champions to win a 3-point contest), Curry looked hot from the start as he scored a record 31 points.

Despite Conley (a late addition for injured Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker) giving Curry a run for his money in the final round, the Warriors icon is now a two-time 3-Point champion and the first since Jason Kapono (2007, 2008).

He would dedicate the victory to teammate Klay Thompson, who will miss the entire 2020-21 season with an Achilles tear.

During the contest, MTN DEW would award $100,000 in scholarships to two students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

The post Stephen Curry Wins 2021 NBA All-Star 3-Point Contest appeared first on SLAM.

The three-point contest will be headlined by two former champions of the event, the Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry and Phoenix Suns’ Devin Booker. The remainder of the three-point contest will be made up by the Chicago Bulls’ Zach LaVine, Utah Jazz’s Donovan Mitchell and Boston Celtics’ duo of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. All six of the players competing in the three-point contest will also be playing in the All-Star Game.

The NBA skills challenge will have a first-time winner, as all six entrants have yet to win the event. Five of the six players competing will be playing in the All-Star Game, those are the Suns’ Chris Paul, Dallas Mavericks’ guard Luka Doncic, Indiana Pacers forward Domantas Sabonis, New York Knicks’ forward Julius Randle and Orlando Magic center Nikola Vucevic. Portland Trailblazers’ forward Robert Covington is the lone participant in the skills challenge who will not feature in the All-Star Game.

That is in sharp contrast to the dunk contest participants, none of whom will be playing in the All-Star game and all of whom will be participating for the first time. The dunk contest features just three players this year, two rookies in Pacers’ Cassius Stanley and Knicks’ Obi Toppin, and the Trailblazers’ Anfernee Simons. The dunk contest has a star-studded cast of judges, all of which are former winners. Dominique Wilkins, Dee Brown, Spud Webb, Josh Smith and Jason Richardson will be the five judging the event.

These events will take place on the same day as the All-Star Game, Sunday, March 7. The skills challenge and three-point contest will occur before the game, with the dunk contest being performed at halftime.

The post NBA Announces Participants For All-Star Skills Challenge, Three-Point And Dunk Contest appeared first on SLAM.

Not one to accept mediocrity peacefully or quietly, Boston has long been looking for reinforcements, and general manager Danny Ainge mentioned that they might not be far from making a trade on the ‘Toucher and Rich’ morning show on Thursday.

“We’ve been close a couple times,” Ainge said in regards to potential trades. “It’s rare that trades get done [not close] to the deadline. We’re talking and we’re trying to do some things… Time will tell.”

Ainge hinted at the kind of player the Celtics may be looking for on the trade market, saying that Boston needs to “surround them [Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown] with more scoring off the bench.”

Brown and Tatum are both averaging over 25.0 points per game this season, with the next highest scorer being point guard Kemba Walker, who is averaging 17.1 points per game. In total, the Celtics only have four players averaging more than 10.0 points per game: Brown, Tatum, Walker and the currently injured Marcus Smart.

Some names that spring to mind for a potential Boston trade include Sacramento Kings’ wing Harrison Barnes, averaging 15.9 points per game and Orlando Magic forward Aaron Gordon, averaging 13.8 points per game. Both have been subject to a multitude of trade rumors this season and would provide the scoring Boston needs deeper in their rotation.

The trade deadline is a month away, Mar. 25, giving Ainge and the Celtics a bit of breathing room to get a deal done.

The post Celtics GM Danny Ainge: ‘We’ve Been Close’ to Completing Multiple Trades appeared first on SLAM.

Because of the team’s poor play, some have speculated that Celtics’ head coach Brad Stevens could be on the hot seat if he is unable to turn things around.

Jayson Tatum is not one of those people. In an interview with Boston.com’s Tom Westerholm, Tatum defended Stevens and says that blame doesn’t fall solely on the coaching staff.

“Brad is great,” Tatum said. “He always has us prepared. It’s not like the lack of preparation with us, or game planning, or not knowing what we need to know, from a coaching standpoint.”

“We’re all one team. So everyone has to take some take some blame, but Brad does more than his part. And I’m a big believer that there’s still other guys on the court that have to make the difference. So it’s not like it’s Brad’s fault.”

The Celtics are currently in the midst of a three-game losing streak and have a record of 5-9 during February. Coincidently, guard Marcus Smart has also missed the entire month of February due to a left calf tear, playing most recently on January 30, in a 96-95 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Tatum, however, pushed back against the notion that Smart’s absence from the lineup is the reason for their slump, saying, “I feel like we still have enough to win games.”

The Celtics will look to bounce back tonight as they play their penultimate game of the month against the Indiana Pacers.

The post Despite Celtics’ Recent Struggles, Jayson Tatum Backs Brad Stevens appeared first on SLAM.

These 14 reserves will join the starters (10 in total) that were named last week — a list headlined by team captains LeBron James and Kevin Durant (of the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets, respectively).

Phoenix Suns point guard Chris Paul leads the way in All-Star appearances among this group, playing in his 11^th All-Star Game this year. Paul is only one of three players in this year’s event with at least 10 All-Star appearances, the other two being LeBron and Durant.

Brooklyn Nets guard James Harden has the next highest mark among the reserves. The Beard is playing his ninth All-Star game but his first representing the Eastern Conference thanks his well-publicized trade from the Houston Rockets.

Harden is one of three Nets in the All-Star Game alongside starters Durant and Irving.

Los Angeles Lakers big man Anthony Davis is an All-Star for not just the eighth time in his career but the eighth time in a row. Davis has been an All-Star every season of his career, with the only exception being his rookie season in 2012-13.

Another veteran of the All-Star Game, Los Angeles Clippers wing Paul George, makes his return to the All-Star Game for the seventh time after missing last year’s festivities.

Right behind him, Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard finds himself in his sixth All-Star Game.

Dame Dolla has the highest scoring average of the All-Star reserves, averaging 29.6 points per game, the fourth-highest number in the league. Lillard will also participate in the All-Star 3-Point Contest.

On the flip side, Philadelphia 76ers guard Ben Simmons is averaging just 15.7 points per game but is making his third All-Star Game because of his excellent playmaking – 7.9 assists per game – and defense for the Sixers.

Nikola Vucevic, Rudy Gobert, Donovan Mitchell and Jayson Tatum will all be making their second appearances.

Four players from the reserves will be playing in their first-ever All-Star Games. Julius Randle, Zach LaVine, Jaylen Brown and Zion Williamson will make their first All-Star appearances.

The post NBA Announces 2021 All-Star Game Reserves appeared first on SLAM.

“I ain’t gon’ say no names but there was some people on the other team, I’m like ‘hold on, he don’t normally play like that.’ Like ‘he acting different in the bubble.'”

“I don’t know if it was ’cause there wasn’t no fans there,” Tatum mused, “or just the environment kind of let you play a little more freely.”

It’s undeniable that there were a few players — Indiana Pacers forward T.J. Warren, Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray and Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell — whose play in the bubble was at a level above their regular performances.

Warren, who has a career average of 15.5 points per game, averaged 31.0 points per game in the 2019-20 seeding games.

Murray, who has a career average of 15.7 points per game, averaged 26.5 points per game in the 2020 NBA Playoffs.

Mitchell, who has a career average of 22.7 points per game, averaged 36.5 points per game in the 2020 NBA Playoffs.

Quite frankly, Tatum doesn’t have to say any names; there are a plethora of fans who know which players had performances that were drastically different than the ones they had grown accustomed to.

The post Jayson Tatum Skeptical Of Players Who Overachieved In Bubble appeared first on SLAM.

With Kemba Walker out due to injury and Gordon Hayward suiting up for the Charlotte Hornets, Smart has been playing a major role in leading the C’s offense.

“His energy and his poise on the offensive end have been great for us,” Brown says, per Taylor C. Snow of Celtics.com. “We’ve asked him to step up and play the point guard position and he’s matched that. He’s got me easy baskets, he’s gotten Jayson easy baskets and he’s gotten himself even baskets as well. I’m proud to see Marcus Smart’s growth and the responsibility that he’s gotten, he’s handled it well in the first seven games.”

In a 122-120 win over the Pistons, the 26-year old finished with 10 assists and 17 points. He also dished the game-winning assist to Tatum, who knocked down a mid-range jumper to give the C’s the lead with 2.9 seconds remaining.

Tatum didn’t hesitate to give credit where it was due:

“He’s been running the team,” Tatum said of Smart. “Starting point, making sure that we’re in our spots, and just making sure we organize. And he’s been doing a really good job at it.”

Head coach Brad Stevens is just as impressed with his veteran guard:

“He knew time and score at the end when we were talking in the huddle,” Stevens explained of the big-time play. “And when we got the ball to Jason with however many seconds left to shoot it only with enough time that they would have to heave it…His thoughtfulness in that moment was huge.”

“I think he’s just one of those guys right? No one is going to say anything if he drives in there and makes it,” Stevens also added. “He’s bailed us out on so many occasions throughout the years that I appreciate how much he’s trying to do the right thing on every possession.”

Unfortunately for the Celtics, Smart has been listed as questionable ahead of Monday’s matchup against the Toronto Raptors. He is currently averaging 12.6 points and 6.7 assists per game this season.

The post Jaylen Brown Says Marcus Smart Is The ‘Heart And Soul’ Of The Celtics appeared first on SLAM.

The deal will be worth at least $163 million, based on the the cap projection for next year, but could climb to as high as $195 million if Tatum meets the requirements for the Rose Rule.

Essentially, given his service time, Tatum is only eligible to sign for a 25% max contract, meaning 25% of the salary cap. In the event that he wins All-NBA (or Defensive Player of the Year or MVP), he can qualify for the 30% typically reserved for players with seven or more years experience.

Tatum was named to the All-NBA third team in 2019-20.

Tatum’s extension falls in line with those we’ve seen from De’Aaron Fox and Donovan Mitchell, a sign of just how strong the 2017 NBA Draft class was.

Tatum averaged 23.4 points and 7.0 rebounds per game for the Celtics in his third year. He’ll play out Year 4 on his rookie contract before the extension kicks in for 2021-22.

The post Celtics, Jayson Tatum Agree on Five-Year Extension appeared first on SLAM.

“I called my fam, my mom, I’m like, Yo, I think I want to go to Phoenix.” Tatum said on a recent episode of SHOWTIME’s All That Smoke. “Earl Watson, he’s like, ‘You come to Phoenix, you and D-Book, two light-skinned killers, I’ma let y’all rock out.’

“I’m sitting in the car, like, This sound good. I think I want to come here,” Tatum said.

Tatum was concerned that he wouldn’t get playing time with the Celtics, who had just finished with the best record in the East and had advanced to the conference finals.

It wasn’t until Tatum received a call from Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski that he seriously considered working out for the Celtics, who were going to trade for the No. 3 pick.

“[Coach K] is like, ‘Jayson, the Celtics called, they want you to come work out. I think Brad Stevens is a great coach. It’s a great place to be. You’ll learn a lot,'” Tatum recalled. “So I’m like, Ugh, alright.”

Although Tatum had mixed feelings about the Celtics drafting him, he now acknowledges that it worked out in the end.

“Everything worked out. It was the best decision,” he said.

RELATED: Gregg Popovich: Jayson Tatum ‘Could Be Like Kawhi and Paul George’

The post Jayson Tatum Says He Wanted The Suns To Draft Him ☀️ appeared first on SLAM.

With the game close down the stretch, Lebron James (29 points) hit a clutch turnaround to give the Lakers the lead as they escaped with the W on Sunday afternoon.

Anthony Davis finished with 32 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Kyle Kuzma was huge off the bench, scoring 16 points.

Raptors 127 (41-15), Pacers 81 (33-23)

Pascal Siakam scored a game-high 21 points, Kyle Lowry had 16 points and Serge Ibaka finished with 15 points to give Toronto its 17th of 18th win. Matt Thomas (17 points), Terence Davis (13 points) and Rodae Hollis-Jefferson (12 points) combined for 43 bench points.

Nuggets 128 (39-18), Timberwolves 116 (16-39)

Four of Denver’s starters finished in double figures with Paul Millsap scoring 25 points in 26 minutes. Monte Morris had 13 points off the bench.

Thunder 131 (35-22), Spurs 103 (24-32)

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led all scorers with a team-high 22 points, Steven Adams finished with 21 points and Luguentz Dort went 6-for-6 from the field, adding 15 points in the win.

Bulls 126 (20-38), Wizards 117 (20-35)

Zach LaVine put up 32 points in 36 minutes in the home win. Coby White had an impressive performance, too, scoring 33 points off the bench.

Pelicans 115 (25-32), Warriors 101 (12-45)

Zion Williamson scored 28 points, scoring 20-plus points for the eighth-straight game. Jrue Holiday finished with 23 points and dished out 15 dimes in the Bay.

Trailblazers 107 (26-32), Pistons 104 (19-40)

CJ McCollum had a 41-point performance in the W. Carmelo Anthony was the Blazers’ second-leading scorer with 32 points.

The post Post Up: LeBron Hits Clutch Basket to Lead Lakers Past Celtics 👑 appeared first on SLAM.

Tatum finished with 39 points and nine rebounds in just under 48 minutes, leading Boston past the visiting LA Clippers in a 141-133 double-overtime win.

The 21-year-old NBA All-Star also held Kawhi Leonard to 3-for-11 shooting when matched up against the reigning Finals MVP.

Per ESPN:

“Thus far, yeah,” Walker said, when asked if this had been the best game Tatum had ever played. “He was incredible. He made every right play. He made every big shot. He was the best player on the court tonight.”

And, afterward, he admitted that getting the chance to play against players such as Leonard and Paul George (who left the game in the second quarter because of a strained left hamstring) helped boost his level of play.

“Any time you get a chance to play against guys you look up to, or arguably are the best guys in the league, it definitely kind of raises your level of play,” Tatum told ESPN. “I enjoy competing against the best players.”

Tatum was not only competing against the best players — he looked like one of them.

“It’s fun [to see],” Walker said of Tatum’s growth. “I’m glad I get to be a part of it. It’s just special. He’s been playing really well, but not only has he been scoring, he’s just been making the right play. I think that’s what’s most important. You’re driving and kicking, he’s seeing his reads, and he’s doing the right things.”

Related Gregg Popovich: Jayson Tatum ‘Could Be Like Kawhi and Paul George’

The post Kemba Walker: Jayson Tatum ‘Best Player on the Court’ vs Clippers appeared first on SLAM.

It took two overtimes in Boston to determine a winner, with the Celtics finally prevailing in a back-and-forth game. Jayson Tatum exploded for 39 points, while Marcus Smart added 31 points. Lou Williams led the Clippers with 35 points.

The Celtics also announced in the first quarter that they’ll retire Kevin Garnett’s No. 5 jersey next season.

Thunder 123 (33-22), Pelicans 118 (23-32)

An electric game in New Orleans ended with the Thunder coming out on top. Danilo Gallinari (29 points) and Dennis Schroder (22 points) gave OKC the scoring edge. Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson had another impressive game, scoring 32 points.

The post Post Up: Jayson Tatum Helps Lift Celtics Over Clippers in 2OT appeared first on SLAM.

Prior to the compliment, however, Pop playfully trashed Tatum’s poor defense in front of his USA Basketball teammates last summer.

The 21-year-old took those words to heart, working harder than ever to become a two-way force, and earned his first NBA All-Star selection.

Per ESPN:

“I wish I could be you!” boomed USA Basketball coach Gregg Popovich, striding toward the young Boston Celtics forward in a film room in China. “Then I could stand in the corner with my 7-foot-long arms down by my side and not move while players go past me!”

He motioned for Tatum to take a seat on a bench next to the elevator, slung his arm around the 21-year old, and explained why he singled him out.

“Do you know how special you can be?” Popovich asked. “There are very few two-way players in our game, and you have the opportunity to be one of them. You could be like Kawhi [Leonard] and Paul George.”

Tatum was so surprised he didn’t answer at first, prompting Popovich to hastily add, “I hope I haven’t offended you.”

“Offended me?” Tatum said. “That’s a compliment!”

Related ‘It’s a Big Deal’: Jayson Tatum Gunning to Become an All-Star

The post Gregg Popovich: Jayson Tatum ‘Could Be Like Kawhi and Paul George’ appeared first on SLAM.

“Nobody was really talking about us, you know?”

Kemba Walker is seated in the Optum Lounge of the Auerbach Center, where the Boston Celtics practice, thinking back on this summer. When he was in China for the 2019 FIBA World Cup, along with Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, the four of them discussed the doubt placed on their team at home.

“Granted, they lost a few guys who made this team go,” Walker continues, “but I still felt like we would be pretty good just because of the talent that I knew we had and how much the young guys wanted it. Guys like Smart, JB and JT, I could tell how much they wanted to become better players and how disappointed they were about last year. Those kinds of things played a part in how I felt like we were going to be this season.” 

Of course, last season informed a lot of the early projections. The Cs were favorites to come out of the East in ’18-19 but did not live up to expectations, finishing as the No. 4 seed and getting bounced in the second round of the playoffs. That fact, combined with key losses in free agency, bred skepticism. But skepticism is OK. In many ways, it’s welcomed. 

There’s less pressure in being the underdog. And once the wounds of a disheartening year began to heal, those remaining could find the positives in it. Sometimes, there have to be lows to be highs. The group had to learn from their mistakes. They used failure and doubt as further motivation, and they set out to prove everyone wrong. 

“We were just talking about what we wanted to do this season, how we wanted to come out and really shut people up,” Smart recalls of those conversations in China. “We just knew everybody was going to doubt us. So for us, it was just coming out and being able to show what we were capable of.”

—

“I’ve got sunshine…”

“…on a cloudy day” 

Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart have spontaneously broken into a duet of The Temptations’ “My Girl.” They harmonize and trade lines, singing into the shotgun microphone set up for our video shoot. It’s so seamless that it sounds rehearsed.  

“When it’s cold outside…”

“…I’ve got the month of May” 

Spirits are high at the newly constructed Auerbach Center. It’s early January and the team has entered a new decade near the top of the Eastern Conference. As of this writing, they are 31-15 and 18-5 at TD Garden. 

There’s a laidback, relaxed vibe to the shoot. Guys arrive one by one, led by the veteran Gordon Hayward, rocking their green and gold City Edition jerseys. They joke with each other and gang up on one of the equipment managers, who walks on set in a full uniform. 

“That’s how you know you don’t hoop, because nobody wears their socks to their calves like that,” Smart says. 

“You got to stop skipping leg day, Andy,” Brown chimes in. 

“He’s skipping every day.”

The returning players will freely admit, there was, at times, an absence of joy in the locker room last season. It was due in part to a reluctance to open up about personal issues outside of basketball. No one wanted to share, and the chemistry and happiness of the whole team suffered because of it. Bottling their problems didn’t work, so they’ve taken the opposite approach this year.

“We’re happy [now]. Everybody’s actually talking to one another,” Smart says. “Last year, we didn’t really talk to each other as much as we do now for whatever reason. Everybody was dealing with their own things personally, so it was kind of hard to sit down with one another and really listen because you were dealing with your own things and you were trying to figure out things for yourself.”

Marcus was coping with the death of his mother. Gordon was fighting back from his gruesome ankle injury. Jayson wasn’t making the jump he anticipated for himself and dealt with outside scrutiny. Coming off an impressive 2018 postseason run, Jaylen had to take a step back and battled anxiety and self-doubt. 

“It’s kind of hard to listen to somebody else’s problems when you have your own,” Smart continues. “This year, everything we have—internally and externally—it’s out in the open. We’re always around each other, laughing and smiling. Just trying to really enjoy being around each other.”

By his own admission, Marcus is the team comedian. 

“He’s just nonstop, he always got jokes” Tatum describes. “Or often—I ain’t gonna say nonstop. It’s just often.”

“I bring joy to the locker room, that’s what he wanted to say,” Smart responds. 

“That ain’t what I wanted to say.”

“Is it my turn?” Brown asks. He seems eager to share his opinion about Marcus. “No comment. I plead the fifth.”

Smart will fire back, naturally. He pokes fun at Jayson’s beard (“He finally got it to connect!”) and Jaylen’s aloofness (“You be in the sunken place”). He confidently assures everyone that he’ll win a shooting contest. The others lightheartedly accuse him of messing up the backdrop for our photos—it’s suddenly crumpled and folding—and he objects. 

“We’re a fun group,” Walker says. “I don’t think a lot of people understand how much fun we have with each other. We love being around each other, love playing basketball with each other, love helping each other get better.

“One through 15, we all get along. It’s just a really fun environment to be a part of. Nobody wants to come into work and it not be good vibes, but that’s not the case here. We have really high character guys. Everybody has one goal, everybody wants to win, everybody wants to become better players. It just makes things easier.”

The core of that group, featured on the cover above, has meshed easily. It’s a combination of veterans and youth, of reserved personalities and, in Marcus’ words, more “off the wall” ones. They complement and balance each other out.

On the floor, they are versatile and dynamic, capable of playing multiple positions and filling various roles. 

“It makes us really tough to guard,” says Hayward. “I think it’s a team that can make adjustments and morph in a game. That makes us pretty special.”

“I think we’re all interchangeable so it’s kind of hard for teams to game plan because you never know what position somebody might be in,” Brown explains. “They might be bringing the ball up, they might be in the corner, they might be coming off the action. It makes it a little bit harder to defend when everybody’s interchangeable.” 

All five of them have the ability to take over a game—some by scoring, some by playmaking, some by defending. There’s no strategy as to who will be “the guy” on a particular night—they just react to who gets the hot hand. When Jayson has it going, for example, they feed him the ball and slide into different roles. They can shape shift in ways most other rosters can’t. With Jayson or whoever shouldering the load offensively, the rest of the squad has more energy to invest on the opposite end. Boston currently has the No. 3 defense in the NBA. 

“It takes a lot of pressure off me, not having to do too much [offensively,]” says Walker, who carried much of the weight during his tenure in Charlotte. “I definitely think it allows me to tap into different parts of my game.”

Kemba, a three-time All-Star, is averaging 22.3 points and 5.0 assists. Normally soft-spoken, he perks up when asked to talk about his new teammates.

“Marcus, he’s the heart and soul of our team. He’s just the ultimate competitor. Always gets us going, always gets our energy going. We definitely feed off of him tremendously.”

“Gordon has that veteran leadership and to me, he’s the X factor for us. As Gordon goes, it just makes our team that much better. He’s definitely a very special talent and I’m just happy to see him back to his comfort zone. I know it’s been a rough couple of years for him and I’m just happy that he’s back to his old self.”

“JT, the ability that he has for his age [21] is just scary. As he gets older and matures, he’s just going to continue to get better because he works so hard and he wants to be great. That’s something that you can’t take away from him. He wants it. That’s one of the special attributes about him—how much he really does want to be a special player in this League and he definitely will. He’ll be a top-five player in this League one day, for sure.” 

“Jaylen, he’s a guy who’s worked extremely hard at his game. And this season, you can see how much it’s paying off. He can do it all. He can score, he can pass, he can rebound, he can shoot. He’s fearless. He’s a competitor. And he still has so much room for improvement. He’s going to be a special talent, which he already is to me.”

JT and Jaylen are prime examples of the turnaround for this franchise. They’re making the leaps that many predicted, only a bit delayed. Tatum is posting career-highs in points (21.5) and rebounds (6.9). The same goes for Brown (20.1 points, 6.6 rebounds), who’s also shooting 50 percent from the field and 39 percent from three. They’ve been spreading the floor and understanding when, where and how to pick their spots.  And, as Smart adds, “JT finally grew out the rest of his beard, so that was good for us.” 

Both have benefitted from their previous struggles. They learned a lot through the difficult times and have relished the absence of pressure this go-around. 

“I think just hooping has been a key for us, instead of thinking about so much of the stuff that we had to think about last year,” Brown says. “Just play basketball and let the cards fall where they may. This year has been totally different, but I think we all needed last year. I think everybody right here [he gestures to Smart, Tatum and Hayward] has gotten better through the experiences of last year.” 

“We understand how last year went,” Tatum says. “Obviously not trying to have a repeat of that. I think this year focusing more on ourselves and the guys in the locker room and not paying attention to the media and kind of enjoying being the underdog, whereas last year we were expected to win a championship.”

The strong bond between the two young cornerstones has continued to grow as well, even if it’s veiled in sarcasm. 

Jaylen: “I ain’t even like this dude.” 

Jayson: “I’m sick of him.”

Jaylen: “Nah, JT cool.”

Jayson: “I know I’m cool.” 

Jaylen: “He’s aight, you know what I mean? I think we got a few similarities but we got a lot of differences at the same time. But it kind of, like, works. I don’t disrespect him for none of the stuff that he’s into—whatever that may be.”

Jayson: “What am I into? [laughs]” 

Walker is the new piece to this puzzle, but also perhaps the biggest one. He’s fit in perfectly thus far. Like several of his teammates, he identifies as an underdog, someone perpetually slept on. He sees a lot of himself in Marcus, Gordon, Jayson and Jaylen. Suffice it to say, the marriage has worked. 

“I think that’s why we get along so well, because we all have one goal,” Walker says. “We want to win and we want to become great players. We’re all gym rats. We’re all always in the gym. So yeah, that’s what makes us so special.” 

—

All around the Auerbach Center are reminders of the Celtics’ storied past. Large images of former franchise legends (Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, Larry Bird/Kevin McHale, Ray Allen/Paul Pierce/Kevin Garnett) adorn the walls. Banners (a lot of them) hang from the ceiling over the practice court. The leprechaun logo, which has become synonymous with winning, is everywhere—at the bottom of recovery pools, on workout equipment, blown up on the exterior of the facility, etc. 

The long and winding road has led here—to the Optum Lounge on this January afternoon, where Jaylen and Marcus are entertaining the room with karaoke duets. Armed with confidence and free from burdens, the Celtics have established themselves as contenders once again.

“Look at the League now, the talent is more dispersed,” says Brown. “I think this year is kind of unique. It hasn’t been like this in a while. So I think that it’s anybody’s game. We probably don’t realize how close we can be to getting the job done.”

“Certainly the Celtics have a long history and tradition of success. You come here to compete at the highest level, and that means all the way to the Finals,” Hayward says. “So it’s been a goal since I’ve gotten here, definitely a goal of ours this year. I don’t think that as a team we look at that every day. We just look to get better and focus on the task at hand.

“And like Jaylen said, let the cards fall where they may.” 

—

GRAB YOUR COPY OF SLAM 226 FEATURING THE CELTICS

Alex Squadron is an Associate Editor at SLAM. Follow him on Twitter @asquad510.

Photos by Matthew Coughlin and via Getty.

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Houston won in a blowout despite 11 TOs from James Harden. The Rockets outscored the Wolves by 14 in the second quarter to take a 16-point lead into halftime, and led by as much as 41 during the fourth.

James Harden dropped a game-high 32 points with 12 boards and 8 dimes. Russell Westbrook added 30 points and 10 dimes.

Pelicans 105 (14-26, Celtics 140 (26-11)

Boston dominated from the first quarter, taking a 17-point lead into the second. The Celtics would grow the lead to as much as 37 points during the third quarter.

Jayson Tatum need just three quarters to drop a career-high 41 points on 16-22 shooting.

Bulls 108 (14-26), Pistons 99 (14-26)

After taking the lead with 4:36 left in the first quarter, Chicago wouldn’t trail for the rest of the game, eventually snapping a 6-game losing streak.

Zach LaVine dropped a game-high 25 points with 6 dimes.

Lakers 125 (32-7), Thunder 110 (22-17)

No LeBron, AD and Danny Green, no problem. The Lakers led the entire game, and by as much as 32 points during the third quarter.

Kyle Kuzma dropped a game-high 36 points with 7 boards. Rajon Rondo added 21 points with 12 boards and 8 dimes.

The Lakers have won 8 straight games.

Sixers 91 (25-15), Mavs 109 (24-15)

Dallas outscored the Joel Embiid-less Sixers by 27 points during the second half.

Luka Doncic dropped a team-high 19 points with 12 dimes and 8 boards. Dwight Powell added 19 points with 12 boards.

Cavs 111 (12-27), Nuggets 103 (26-12)

Cleveland blew a 17-point fourth quarter lead, but was able to hold on when it mattered most.

Kevin Love dropped 19 points with 15 boards. Collin Sexton added a game-high 25 points.

Bucks 122 (35-6), Blazers 101 (16-24)

Milwaukee took the lead with 6:25 left in the first quarter, and did not trail for the rest of the game. The Bucks would go up by as much as 25 points during the fourth quarter.

Giannis Antetokounmpo dropped a game-high 32 points with 17 boards and 6 dimes. Khris Middleton added 30 points on 11-17 shooting.

The post Post Up: Lakers Rout Thunder Without LeBron, Anthony Davis appeared first on SLAM.

Tatum says he simply didn’t play well enough to be invited to the mid-season showcase.

The 21-year-old is averaging 21.1 points and 7.2 rebounds for a resurgent 17-5 Boston Celtics squad.

Per MassLive:

“Obviously, I wanted to make it last year, and that didn’t happen,” Tatum said. “I was disappointed in myself, I didn’t play nearly good enough to make it, and that was tough. I thought about that the entire season and this summer.”

Tatum said he spoke to Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal — his good friend, who made his first All-Star team in his sixth season — about what it feels like to be selected, and what it takes to get there.

“It’s a big deal,” Tatum said. “It’s only 24 people get to make the All-Star team every year. It’s not easy, it’s the best of the best. Even hearing that I have a chance to make it this year is good. I’m not going to relax until I hear that I do make it, but keep playing the way I am, keep winning, just let the rest take care of itself.”

For Tatum, balancing personal goals with team success has happened naturally.

“It’s been easy this year,” Tatum said. “It’s just all been flowing in the right direction. Making the right play, being aggressive and doing what I need to do to help our team win, and we’ve been winning. So that helps a lot.”

Related Jayson Tatum: Kobe Bryant ‘Didn’t Teach Me Bad Habits’

The post ‘It’s a Big Deal’: Jayson Tatum Gunning to Become an All-Star appeared first on SLAM.

“We should have cleaned out the roster a little bit,” says Ainge, adding that the roster he constructed “didn’t mesh.”

Boston is currently tied for the second-best record in the Eastern Conference at 12-4.

Per ESPN:

“I think that in hindsight, we should have cleaned out the roster a little bit to make it easier for [coach] Brad [Stevens], more joy for him to coach,” Ainge said.

Ultimately, Ainge said he refrained from trading any players last season because, after an uneven start, the team entered the All-Star break 37-21.

“So that’s why I didn’t do any deals, but in hindsight, you know, I would,” Ainge told ESPN. Going forward, Ainge said he would be “a little bit more careful … building another team that had such equal depth.”

While some have attempted to cast blame on Irving for the failings of last season’s Celtics, Ainge continues to say he views that as unfair.

“I think it’s silly that Kyrie is targeted as the guy just because he’s not with us this year,” said Ainge, who thinks he was also part of the problem. “I’ll blame all the players and I’ll blame myself, and we’ll go from there.”

Related Jaylen Brown: ‘Do You Think We’re as Good as the 1986 Celtics Team?’

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