o dissociate himself from one damaging, false, and deceptive narrative.
Tatum has been under fire from outsiders since he suffered the agony of losing in the NBA Finals and collapsing against the eighth-seeded Miami Heat team in the Eastern Conference finals the previous season. Tatum still doesn’t get his roses, even after putting aside personal honors and guiding the Celtics to an NBA-high 45 victories through 57 games. It has even to the point where Tatum’s entire postseason history has been (obviously) erased from his memory by former Golden State Warriors general manager Bob Myers.
“Is Jayson Tatum able to surpass Jimmy Butler in an Eastern Conference series? Is he able to outperform Giannis Antetokounmpo? Is he able to outperform Embiid? Before Boston’s game against the New York Knicks on Saturday, Myers stated on ESPN’s “NBA Countdown” that Joel Embiid was healthy.
The issue with Myers’ evaluation of Tatum is that, in a few instances during his career, he has previously outperformed each player. It’s true that the Celtics haven’t been overpowering Miami in the conference finals or playing shady with Antetokounmpo and the Bucks, but those are two sides of the same coin. In the semifinal round two seasons prior, Tatum and Boston overcame a 3-2 deficit to eliminate Milwaukee in seven games. And Tatum embarrassed the Philadelphia 76ers once more the previous season, coming back from a 3-2 series deficit to win Game 7 of the playoffs with 51 points.
The issue with Myers’ evaluation of Tatum is that, in a few instances during his career, he has previously outperformed each player. It’s true that the Celtics haven’t been overpowering Miami in the conference finals or playing shady with Antetokounmpo and the Bucks, but those are two sides of the same coin. In the semifinal round two seasons prior, Tatum and Boston overcame a 3-2 deficit to eliminate Milwaukee in seven games. And Tatum embarrassed the Philadelphia 76ers once more the previous season, coming back from a 3-2 series deficit to win Game 7 of the playoffs with 51 points.
