Did Shai surpass Jayson Tatum last year

[Joshyjess]

Basically you could make this thread "Did (put any name you want here) pass Tatum", and the majority of posters are going to say "yes".

[juju14]

I feel like Tatum's the board's favorite litmus test to how good X player is.. any ideas why?

Cause he has the most range out of any top 10 player as to how good he can look on any given night. Sometimes he looks mvp level, sometimes he looks top 20. So no matter who you want to compare him to, there’s a version of him that makes you right.

I'm trying to figure out who the best player is that the GB would agree Tatum is better than. A new thread every day asking if Tatum is better than x player and the answer is always no. This is heading to a thread next week asking if Tatum is better than Kyle Kuzma. I'll vote an early no just to kick off the discussion.

I asked about last year not 5 years ago.

[RB34]

SGA is starting to enter that territory where he plays on a very good team but when people talk about him they act as though he’s dragging their skeletons through games.

[Jaqua92]

Apparently SGA's one regular season that was better is enough.

People just don't like Boston. No. Of course he's not better than Tatum

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He was better in the Playoffs too. Let's see this season

He wasn't good enough to elevate his team past a lesser team.

SGA is a more consistent scorer, and is more efficient. That doesn't make him better.

He's just not the well rounded player that impacts winning in the same way Tatum does.

For as stacked as the Celtics are, why do scouts still gameplan around Tatum?

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[Jaqua92]

SGA is starting to enter that territory where he plays on a very good team but when people talk about him they act as though he’s dragging their skeletons through games.

OKC was, and considered the second most stacked team. And he couldn't beat Dallas.


He's great. He's on Tatum's level, but not better. The defensive gap is way too big

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[Dominator83]

I feel like Tatum's the board's favorite litmus test to how good X player is.. any ideas why?

Cause he has the most range out of any top 10 player as to how good he can look on any given night. Sometimes he looks mvp level, sometimes he looks top 20. So no matter who you want to compare him to, there’s a version of him that makes you right.

I'm trying to figure out who the best player is that the GB would agree Tatum is better than. A new thread every day asking if Tatum is better than x player and the answer is always no. This is heading to a thread next week asking if Tatum is better than Kyle Kuzma. I'll vote an early no just to kick off the discussion.

Yea I'm a Bulls fan, so don't really care about the Celtics one way or the other. But the way everyone always goes out of their way to discredit them is ridiculous. Like last year's playoffs, everyone would always point out injuries to their opponents as to why the Celtics were winning. All while conveniently leaving out the Celtics were missing Porzingis. And we saw in game 1 of the finals (the only game he was relatively healthy) that Porzingis is a game changer

[Slimjimzv]

According to a lot of people, apparently yes.

According to me and numbers and results, no.

This is an incredibly misleading graphic. He asked about LAST YEAR. Here are their 2024 playoff stats.

SGA

PPG 30.2
RPG 7.2
APG 6.4
SPG 1.3
BPG 1.7
FG% 49.6
3P% 43.2

Tatum

PPG 25.0
RPG 9.7
APG 6.3
SPG 1.1
BPG 0.7
FG% 42.7
3P% 28.3

SGA has better stats in every category except rebounds. I'm down for hearing that Tatum was a better player last year, but posting what you did is not a proper response to the question "Did Shai surpass Jayson Tatum last year"

[ThunderBolt]

SGA had a better regular season but it wasn't a huge difference imo. SGA did get DPOY votes where Tatum did not and also placed higher in MVP voting.

In the playoffs Tatum put up more rebounds and the same assists per game but 5 fewer points per game. Tatum's also was noticeably less efficient shooting in the playoffs than the regular season, whereas SGA was more consistent in that regard.

So yeah Shai had a better regular season and his stats look better per game in the playoffs. But it was about half as many games.

Any team would be happy to have either player.

I think this is a very fair assessment. Some of the posts mentioning playoff success are a little lame, in my opinion. At best Shai’s second best player last year was a sophomore or rookie depending on where you rank Jalen and Chet. Last year was his first year playing on a true contender. The team fell short. Sha did not.If you want to compare playoff success, let’s wait until the twilight of their careers. If someone doesn’t understand why Shai gets the praise and respect he does, then the answer is very clear, you don’t watch OKC.

[bisme37]

According to a lot of people, apparently yes.

According to me and numbers and results, no.

Spoiler:

This is an incredibly misleading graphic. He asked about LAST YEAR. Here are their 2024 playoff stats.

SGA

PPG 30.2
RPG 7.2
APG 6.4
SPG 1.3
BPG 1.7
FG% 49.6
3P% 43.2

Tatum

PPG 25.0
RPG 9.7
APG 6.3
SPG 1.1
BPG 0.7
FG% 42.7
3P% 28.3

SGA has better stats in every category except rebounds. I'm down for hearing that Tatum was a better player last year, but posting what you did is not a proper response to the question "Did Shai surpass Jayson Tatum last year"

Surpass him how though? What does that even mean?

When I read "surpass" my mind went to their careers. Otherwise the question is "who had the more efficient individual offensive season last year?"

Well SGA did I guess but that's not enough to surpass anything. The other guy has had a far better career at the same age and just won a title.

[Slimjimzv]

Surpass him how though? What does that even mean?

When I read "surpass" my mind went to their careers. Otherwise the question is "who had the more efficient individual offensive season last year?"

Well SGA did I guess but that's not enough to surpass anything. The other guy has had a far better career at the same age and just won a title.

Totally fair. I wish that had been the post. I'm a massive OKC fan, and my answer is that SGA hasn't and cannot surpass Tatum until he wins at least one, and probably two championships.

[MrBigShot]

He had a better season but it's debatable if he is definitively better. Tatum's 22-23 season was also mvp caliber. It's a toss up that could change.

[BadWolf]

Basically you could make this thread "Did (put any name you want here) pass Tatum", and the majority of posters are going to say "yes".

Maybe, but he's asking about the MVP runner up ITT

[Yinwest]

Comparing SGA and Tatum playoff numbers are pointless, Tatum been through ECF/Finals many times lol, SGA played like 10-15 playoff games and never been to the WCF lol

[PierceFan4ever]

Career it’s Tatum easily obviously. I thought SGA closed the gap in the 2022-2023 season but still had Tatum as the better player. Last year, SGA definitely was the better player during the regular season but I still really loved the way Tatum played and it was a adjustment having to add holiday and Porzingis into the team and still walked away with the title and whatever anyone saying with brown being better in the playoffs, Tatum was the Celtics best player based on the way team’s covered him and how he lead the Celtics in all major categories. So in the end I don’t mind if anyone thinks Shai is a better player today, if he has a better season and walks away with a title then it’s no question. Admittley im a little bias and think Tatum is slightly better of the two and believe he will have a better season but let’s see since it’s only like 1-2 games for each.

[Deivork]

Celtics fan here. Comparisons are always though, but yes, I think Shai overtook Tatum. Very close though, they're like #5 and #6 league wide.

[juju14]

Apparently SGA's one regular season that was better is enough.

People just don't like Boston. No. Of course he's not better than Tatum

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He was better in the Playoffs too. Let's see this season

He wasn't good enough to elevate his team past a lesser team.

SGA is a more consistent scorer, and is more efficient. That doesn't make him better.

He's just not the well rounded player that impacts winning in the same way Tatum does.

For as stacked as the Celtics are, why do scouts still gameplan around Tatum?

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What they gameplay for Tatum cause Tatum their best player. What kind of dumb question is that?
Shai was working with a rookie and Jalen williams two young ass players with no playoff experience. You can't be serious comparing their teams last year.

[Johnny Firpo]

SGA is starting to enter that territory where he plays on a very good team but when people talk about him they act as though he’s dragging their skeletons through games.

I think everybody agrees that Shai has a stacked roster. I don't think I ever saw an argument that said otherwise, but some say his team was not experienced yet, which is true. He himself wasn't really that experienced in the playoffs. Played in two, but was a totally different player, in a totally different role. Both guys can feel pretty lucky as far as their roster goes, that's why most expect them to meet in the finals.

[Sweet Serenity]

Their is certain players that are treated differently because of market & likability. Shai plays for a small market team that is liked more than disliked by neutral fans. Tatum plays for the second most hated franchise in the league.

Everyone has already put OKC as contenders (some have them as favourites over Boston). The goalposts for certain players move though which is why if OKC gets bounced in the second round again, those same people who said they were contenders will then say that they’re still too young, giving Shai an excuse.

I want too see how he performs in the conference finals before considering putting him above Tatum.

[cupcakesnake]

Surpass him how though? What does that even mean?

When I read "surpass" my mind went to their careers. Otherwise the question is "who had the more efficient individual offensive season last year?"

Well SGA did I guess but that's not enough to surpass anything. The other guy has had a far better career at the same age and just won a title.

My assumption when I read stuff like this is that they're talking about current player ranking rather than total accumulative career value. That's how most people tend to respond, I find.

Like I rank Tatum higher than Lebron James and say he has surpassed him in the league hierarchy as Lebron has aged.

I definitely think Shai has surpassed Tatum in terms of a general consensus on player ranking right now. Not by a whole lot though. I saw a graphic that did a composite for a bunch of player rankings (ESPN, the Ringer, 2k, Hoopshype, Action Network, CBS). Shai came in 4th (range of 3-4) and Tatum came in 6th (range of 5-10).

[Onlytimewilltel]

According to a lot of people, apparently yes.

According to me and numbers and results, no.

Spoiler:

This is an incredibly misleading graphic. He asked about LAST YEAR. Here are their 2024 playoff stats.

SGA

PPG 30.2
RPG 7.2
APG 6.4
SPG 1.3
BPG 1.7
FG% 49.6
3P% 43.2

Tatum

PPG 25.0
RPG 9.7
APG 6.3
SPG 1.1
BPG 0.7
FG% 42.7
3P% 28.3

SGA has better stats in every category except rebounds. I'm down for hearing that Tatum was a better player last year, but posting what you did is not a proper response to the question "Did Shai surpass Jayson Tatum last year"

Surpass him how though? What does that even mean?

When I read "surpass" my mind went to their careers. Otherwise the question is "who had the more efficient individual offensive season last year?"

Well SGA did I guess but that's not enough to surpass anything. The other guy has had a far better career at the same age and just won a title.

To me it was no question he was talking about surpassing him as in being a better player currently (as of last year). Not his “all time career”. And most non biased folks agree that last year Shai was better than Tatum.