The offseason is coming to an end and it will soon be time to go back into battle for Jayson Tatum and his Celtics, this year with the label of reigning champions.
Before returning to the courts, JT has been busy with a series of requests, between his trip to China for his sponsor Jordan Brand and the release of his children's book “Baby Dunks-a-Lot.” In this capacity, he made a stop at the “Maynard Fine Arts Theatre”, in the suburbs of Boston, to meet parents and their children.
To talk about his family life, as a father, but also and above all as a basketball player, now an NBA champion to boot. The Boston superstar notably took part in a little question and answer game, mainly about this quest for the title, and what he felt after having “failed” for seven years. He thought of his supporters before thinking of his “haters”.
“We were close to winning several times”he replied. “We lost in the finals (in 2022). A lot of people doubted us, and I remember thinking, 'When we win the title, I can't wait to answer all those people who doubted us, who had something to say.' But you realize when you really win, when the confetti starts falling from the ceiling, and then in the parade, that it's not about the people who doubted you, it's about you, the people who supported us all the way. All those who believed in us. And honestly, I can say that the parade was the best two hours of my life.”
The desire to believe it
Unlike the playoffs two years earlier, and that loss to the Warriors with Stephen Curry at the top of his game, JT got his first good feeling this time when Minnesota eliminated Denver, the defending champion and first candidate to succeed him. Then, when the Celtics won their first game in Dallas to lead 3-0 in the series, and that's when Jayson Tatum really started to believe.
“When we got down 3-0 in Dallas, oh my God… Nobody’s ever come back from 0-3, so I remember coming back in the locker room and saying, ‘I don’t know what the game’s going to be like, but we’re going to win the championship.’ It was a weird feeling. I couldn’t sleep that night, and I remember the morning of Game 4, at the shootaround, I’d never been in that position, that if we win tonight, we’re champions. Everybody was trying to act normal. I couldn’t get a nap. And we lost by 30 points. We wanted to win so bad. We were so anxious and tense. But I knew when we went home for Game 5, we were going to win.”, he added.
What's next? Once NBA champions, what will motivate this group to try to get another title? Joe Mazzulla clearly had the most accurate approach in the way he “switched” to 2024/25, trying to remove the pressure of a possible “back-to-back” in the process.
“Coach Mazzulla said a great thing last time. He said, ‘We’re not defending anything, we’re chasing another title.’ We’ve had a great summer, and I can’t wait for Opening Night to get our rings and hang the banner. But honestly, after the ceremony, we have to put this behind us. It’s a new season. Last year was last year. We did something special. Now we have to find a way to be better. We want to approach the game with the same mindset, which we did great last year. Not to brag, but we were pretty good last season. Because we believed.”
| Jayson Tatum | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | LF | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Party | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2017-18 | BOS | 80 | 31 | 47.5 | 43.4 | 82.6 | 0.6 | 4.4 | 5.0 | 1.6 | 2.1 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 13.9 |
| 2018-19 | BOS | 79 | 31 | 45.0 | 37.3 | 85.5 | 0.9 | 5.2 | 6.0 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 15.7 |
| 2019-20 | BOS | 66 | 34 | 45.0 | 40.3 | 81.2 | 1.0 | 6.0 | 7.0 | 3.0 | 2.1 | 1.4 | 2.4 | 0.9 | 23.4 |
| 2020-21 | BOS | 64 | 36 | 45.9 | 38.6 | 86.8 | 0.8 | 6.6 | 7.4 | 4.3 | 1.9 | 1.2 | 2.7 | 0.5 | 26.4 |
| 2021-22 | BOS | 76 | 36 | 45.3 | 35.3 | 85.3 | 1.1 | 6.9 | 8.0 | 4.4 | 2.3 | 1.0 | 2.9 | 0.6 | 26.9 |
| 2022-23 | BOS | 74 | 37 | 46.6 | 35.0 | 85.4 | 1.1 | 7.7 | 8.8 | 4.6 | 2.2 | 1.1 | 2.9 | 0.7 | 30.1 |
| 2023-24 | BOS | 74 | 36 | 47.1 | 37.6 | 83.3 | 0.9 | 7.2 | 8.1 | 4.9 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 2.5 | 0.6 | 26.9 |
| Total | 513 | 34 | 46.0 | 37.5 | 84.4 | 0.9 | 6.3 | 7.2 | 3.5 | 2.1 | 1.1 | 2.3 | 0.7 | 23.1 | |
How to read the stats? GM = Games Played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Shots Made / Shots Attempted; 3pts = 3-pointers / 3-pointers Attempted; LF = Free Throws Made / Free Throws Attempted; Off = Offensive Rebound; Def = Defensive Rebound; Tot = Total Rebounds; Pd = Assists; Fte: Personal Fouls; Int = Steals; Bp = Loose Balls; Ct: Blocks; Pts = Points.
