After struggling throughout the month of December and entering January, Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics have found their stride coming out of All-Star Weekend.
The Celtics have won five straight games and nine of their last ten thanks to the play of their six-time All-Star. Tatum, one year removed from winning his first championship, has helped Boston defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers and the New York Knicks (twice) during this impressive run, leading his team in scoring, rebounds and assists.
Since the Celtics finally started to look like themselves again in mid-January, Tatum, the former Duke Blue Devils star, has earned a new nickname as he eyes the first back-to-back in the NBA since the Golden State Warriors in 2017-18.
Although man NBA fans had been calling him “JT,” Tatum’s new nickname, “The Anomaly,” is starting to catch on. Even Basketball Reference now has it listed on Tatum’s bio.
NBA fans appear to enjoy Tatum’s new nickname, taking to social media to leave their thoughts.
“This just makes me happy. I’m glad sports pages are starting to recognize Tatum as the Anomaly,” one fan said.
“Tatum nicknamed ‘The Anomaly’ on Wikipedia,” claimed another.
“Jayson Tatum getting the nickname, ‘The Anomaly’ has to be one of the funniest things to come out of NBA Twitter,” wrote a third.
“Jayson ‘The Anomaly’ Tatum went OFF tonight,” commented a fourth.
“Jayson Tatum isnt just the best 2 way 3 level scoring point forward in the NBA, HES THE ONLY ONE. THATS AN ANOMALY IF I’VE EVER SEEN ONE,” posted a fifth.
“My buddy keeps calling Tatum ‘the anomaly,'” added a sixth.
In 54 games played, Tatum is averaging 26.8 points, 8.8 rebounds and 5.7 assists. He has the Celtics sitting with a 41-16 record, good for 2nd place in the Eastern Conference behind the Cavaliers.
Up next for Boston is a two-game road trip, starting with the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday and ending with the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday.
