How Jayson Tatum Can Cement Celtics Legacy After Record-Setting Contract
The pressure certainly was on Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum to deliver an NBA championship last season.
He did that. But guess what? The pressure is still there on his shoulders this season.
The Celtics winning an NBA title in dominating fashion didn’t sweep it all away. Sure, Tatum will have more leeway now that he reached the mountaintop, but if he wants to be considered one of the all-time greats not only in Celtics history, but in Boston professional sports, he’ll have to do more.
So, Tatum will set out to lead the Celtics to back-to-back championships this season, something the iconic franchise hasn’t accomplished in nearly 60 years. Larry Bird didn’t even achieve that feat. And getting another ring would give Tatum bragging rights over Paul Pierce, who won only one title in his 15 seasons with the Celtics.
If Tatum truly wants to cement himself as a Boston sports legend, he has to win multiple championships. It’s a non-negotiable. Bird won three, David Ortiz won three, Bobby Orr won two and of course, Tom Brady topped them all by winning an astounding six Super Bowls with the New England Patriots.
“It was never just about trying to win one, right?” Tatum said last month at Celtics media day. “Now, we get to be at least in the same room with the other Celtics great teams, the other great players. All the guys I looked up to growing up at least won one championship. Now, it’s just a conversation of how great are you trying to be? What room, or what tier you’re trying to be mentioned in when it’s all said and done and understanding the window that you have to maximize that time.
“So, yeah, it does feel different. Being up here as a champion and knowing what it takes and wanting to be on the top of the mountain as many times as you can.”
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It’s one step at a time for Tatum, though. The Celtics built their team around their cornerstone pieces in Tatum and Jaylen Brown. But Tatum took a backseat at times to Brown in last season’s playoff run, as evidenced by Brown walking away with both Eastern Conference finals MVP and NBA Finals MVP honors.
The magnifying glass will be on Tatum to see if that happens again in the playoffs. Tatum did lead the Celtics in points, rebounds and assists in the Finals, but failed to capture a signature moment in Boston’s playoff run that will live on forever. Brown had a couple of those moments — see game-tying corner 3-pointer in Game 1 against the Indiana Pacers and a clutch jumper against the Dallas Mavericks in Game 3 — as did Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, Kristaps Porzingis and Payton Pritchard.
The all-time greats make the biggest plays on the biggest stage. Tatum, while productive in the playoffs, hasn’t done that quite yet. And the stink of shooting 26.3% from beyond the arc in the Finals hasn’t washed off yet, either.
He has plenty of time to create legendary postseason moments with Boston’s championship window wide open after Tatum inked a massive five-year contract, worth up to $315 million — an NBA record. That deal will heighten expectations, too.
Everyone will look for Tatum to produce night in and night out regardless of the situation. And when he doesn’t, he’ll hear it. And when he does, it will be just him meeting expectations most nights. Unfair, but that is what comes with being the best player on the best team in the NBA.
He’ll likely put his name in the MVP conversation most seasons. Getting his hands on one or more of those certainly won’t hurt his legacy. He has been close, finishing in the top six in each of the last three seasons.
But at the end of the day, the regular-season MVPs will only be a footnote to his Celtics legacy. He will be measured in championships and championships alone.
That’s the only thing that matters in Boston.
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