Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics

Despite the Boston Celtics’ dominant run to the 2024 NBA championship, Jayson Tatum continues to be overlooked by NBA fans and media. The three-time All-NBA first-team selection is often an afterthought in discussions surrounding the best American-born players, or potential faces of the league.

In fact, after leading the Celtics to their first championship since 2008, Tatum spent the summer being criticized in the media. During a Feb. 27 appearance on ‘The Pat McAfee Show,’ Tyrese Haliburton weighed in on the discourse surrounding the Celtics star. Haliburton admitted Tatum receives unfair criticism from NBA fans and media.

“Yeah. I mean, I think it’s unwarranted,” Haliburton said. “He’s an elite player in our league, coming off, he’s the best player on the best team in the NBA, you know, of a championship. So I feel like it’s not, it’s not right for the hate that he gets. I mean, think part of it could be he went to Duke and he plays on the Celtics, two polarizing teams, but, I mean, Jayson is a good dude”

Haliburton continued.

“…I think us as players, I think he has the respect from his peers and I think that’s what means more than anything, as an NBA player, the respect to get from your peers and we know when we play Boston you got to be ready and game plan around Jayson Tatum.”

Tatum has been exceptional this season. He’s averaging 26.6 points, 8.7 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game. He’s knocking down his shots at a 45.3% clip while draining threes at a 35.5% success rate despite a high degree of difficulty on his shots.

Celtics’ Jayson Tatum is a Complete Player

Tatum isn’t a score-first star. He doesn’t call his own number when the chips are down. Instead, he trusts his teammates and approaches games in the right way. Over the past 18 months, Tatum has emerged as one of the most complete forwards in the NBA.

The Celtics star is an elite screener, slasher, passer, pick-and-roll creator, rebounder, help defender and of course, scorer. Regardless of how a team looks to defend Tatum, he always finds a way to make a telling impact on a game.

Boston has thrived with Tatum running the show. He’s the glue that holds the rotation together, as illustrated by his +9.6 point differential during his 4,115 possessions on the floor this season. That means the Celtics are outscoring opponents by 9.6 points per 100 possessions when Tatum is on the floor, ranking him as one of the most impactful high-usage players in the NBA.

Celtics’ Opponents Focusing on Defense

Tatum is surrounded by elite talent. Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis, Jrue Holiday and Derrick White are all borderline All-Star players. Al Horford is one of the most impactful veterans in the league and Payton Pritchard is likely the 2025 Sixth Man of the Year. As such, opponents often find themselves with difficult decisions to make.

During a recent interview with Basketball Insiders D.J. Siddiqi, Evan Mobley admitted the key to stopping the Celtics is defense.

”Definitely defense,” Mobley said. “They’re a great offensive team as well. If you get stops on them, it makes it tough on their offense. I feel like defense is the biggest thing for us. And defending the 3-point line, because they like to get a lot of 3-point shots up.”

Boston is fourth in offensive rating this season. They’re also fifth in defensive rating and third in net rating. Therefore, it’s clear that there’s no easy way to slow down the reigning champions. However, if the Cleveland Cavaliers are going to stand a chance during the postseason, shutting down Tatum will likely be high on their list of priorities.