Tatum VS Luka

[Big J]

We need a poll of Tatum/Butler, because I'm pretty sure Butler proved he's better even though his team lost.

[Feed Your Head]

We need a poll of Tatum/Butler, because I'm pretty sure Butler proved he's better even though his team lost.

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[bisme37]

NBA.com writer Shaun Powell on NBATV last night about Tatum:

"You know what he's doing? He's showing the way for Luka Doncic, For Donovan Mitchell, Nicola Jokic, Ja Morant... all those young franchise players looking to make that next step, Jayson Tatum throughout these playoffs showed them how it's done and maybe they can apply that in the future."

(Don't kill the messenger (me), Luka fans!)

I don't know Powell, and I don't know the context of those comments. But I will say I'm somewhat puzzled. None of those players can play like Tatum plays, so his game isn't a blueprint. Jokic, without I think any real arguments even from the most diehard Celtic fan, is clearly a superior player to everyone else in that list so its not just about elevating his level of play to match Tatum's.

It's almost like the generic, his team advanced the furthest and thus its all that matters. But Tatum had already proven imo that he can be a key cog on a contending level team. 3 conference Finals in 5 seasons shows us that.

I think maybe he really means those young stars are hungry for the team success Tatum has experienced, even more so if the Celtics can finish the deal. And sure, I'd agree with him there.

But while I'd love Luka to become a defensive player the level of Tatum, he's not going to. Luka is going to have to find his own path. Same with those other players listed.

There wasn't really much context outside of Powell was very impressed with Tatum this postseason and just said what he said. Then Sam Mitchell chimed in that the difference between JT and the other players Powell mentioned was that Tatum plays defense.

[Wolfgang630]

Getting tired of the hyperbole to be honest. Perkins going on about Tatum having one of the greatest runs in nba history by a player…tf are you talking about. He’s not a one man team. He’s laid eggs throughout this postseason. Dudes getting so hyperbole then you got this Powell guy going on about Jokic can learn from Tatum…

The Celtics have their complete basketball team. Joker and Tatum are completely different players. Joker didn’t have his second or third guy. I just can’t stand stupid ass articles like that as if everyone is in the exact same scenario.

[Ambrose]

We need a poll of Tatum/Butler, because I'm pretty sure Butler proved he's better even though his team lost.

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Thankfully context exists, and we all saw Butler, while hurt, still be the best player on the floor.

[Wolfgang630]

We need a poll of Tatum/Butler, because I'm pretty sure Butler proved he's better even though his team lost.

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Thankfully context exists, and we all saw Butler, while hurt, still be the best player on the floor.

Yes. Butler was the best player in this series.

[Feed Your Head]

We need a poll of Tatum/Butler, because I'm pretty sure Butler proved he's better even though his team lost.

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Thankfully context exists, and we all saw Butler, while hurt, still be the best player on the floor.

He had higher peaks for sure, but he also had 3 stinkers. And everyone is hurt at this point, Tatum is sure as hell playing injured.

I think Butler had the better series FWIW, but he had the luxury of going 1 on 1.

[Big J]

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Thankfully context exists, and we all saw Butler, while hurt, still be the best player on the floor.

He had higher peaks for sure, but he also had 3 stinkers. And everyone is hurt at this point, Tatum is sure as hell playing injured.

I think Butler had the better series FWIW, but he had the luxury of going 1 on 1.

Heat lose in 5 if Tatum & Butler swap teams.

[PierceFan4ever]

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Thankfully context exists, and we all saw Butler, while hurt, still be the best player on the floor.

He had higher peaks for sure, but he also had 3 stinkers. And everyone is hurt at this point, Tatum is sure as hell playing injured.

I think Butler had the better series FWIW, but he had the luxury of going 1 on 1.

Celtics didn’t double Butler once because they know they would rather him try to beat the Celtics alone than their role players which would create massive issues for the Celtics. Just like with the bucks when the Celtics yet Giannis go one on one, it was by design because they know if the others get hot from three it would be over.

Tatum was getting doubled throughout this series each time he put the ball on the floor. Celtics dared and lived with the results of Butler going one on one against smart/white.

[KamikazeK]

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Thankfully context exists, and we all saw Butler, while hurt, still be the best player on the floor.

He had higher peaks for sure, but he also had 3 stinkers. And everyone is hurt at this point, Tatum is sure as hell playing injured.

I think Butler had the better series FWIW, but he had the luxury of going 1 on 1.

yeah people are way overstating this Butler thing. If it wasn't Butler scoring, who else would it be on that team? That team in this series has basically just been Jimmy Butler. You can't score like 6 points in losses in multiple games and act like you vastly outplayed everyone else.

[nikster]

I know a title can completely change the perception of a player, so Im saying it now, I think Luka is better than Tatum even if he wins the title this year.

[nikster]

Thankfully context exists, and we all saw Butler, while hurt, still be the best player on the floor.

He had higher peaks for sure, but he also had 3 stinkers. And everyone is hurt at this point, Tatum is sure as hell playing injured.

I think Butler had the better series FWIW, but he had the luxury of going 1 on 1.

yeah people are way overstating this Butler thing. If it wasn't Butler scoring, who else would it be on that team? That team in this series has basically just been Jimmy Butler. You can't score like 6 points in losses in multiple games and act like you vastly outplayed everyone else.

Tatums had just as many stinkers this playoff run, and Butler was clearly hobbled by injury.

As for bolded, apparently you can because most fans here would rank Jimmy as best player this series

[Curmudgeon]

I'll say it again: apples and oranges. Tatum is 6-10 and is an elite defender. Luka is nowhere near that the level defensively. So the question is whether or not Luka's offense is good enough to compensate for Tatum's vastly superior defense on the ball. It might, but that's the discussion people should be having, not a comparison of offensive numbers.

[CobraCommander]

I'll say it again: apples and oranges. Tatum is 6-10 and is an elite defender. Luka is nowhere near that the level defensively. So the question is whether or not Luka's offense is good enough to compensate for Tatum's vastly superior defense on the ball. It might, but that's the discussion people should be having, not a comparison of offensive numbers.

Defense wins more games when it matters most. Tatum is definitely having a better year.

[DroseReturnChi]

Getting tired of the hyperbole to be honest. Perkins going on about Tatum having one of the greatest runs in nba history by a player…tf are you talking about. He’s not a one man team. He’s laid eggs throughout this postseason. Dudes getting so hyperbole then you got this Powell guy going on about Jokic can learn from Tatum…

The Celtics have their complete basketball team. Joker and Tatum are completely different players. Joker didn’t have his second or third guy. I just can’t stand stupid ass articles like that as if everyone is in the exact same scenario.

perkins is a celtic guy hes going to spew bs all the time. nba is intentionally trying to hype curry and tatum up and inflate billions of revenue by gifting them fake awards ive never even heard in my life. wtf is mj award when magic himself never won it playoff award is more fair so luka and butler can win it. tatum got lucky to reach another finals but he will get swept to make his run forgettable. no one is beating this stacked team that is historic in terms of depth.

[Birdon]

Let them face each other in the Finals first.
And Cuban better not waste Luka’s prime with vintage treadmills.

[sam_I_am]

He had higher peaks for sure, but he also had 3 stinkers. And everyone is hurt at this point, Tatum is sure as hell playing injured.

I think Butler had the better series FWIW, but he had the luxury of going 1 on 1.

yeah people are way overstating this Butler thing. If it wasn't Butler scoring, who else would it be on that team? That team in this series has basically just been Jimmy Butler. You can't score like 6 points in losses in multiple games and act like you vastly outplayed everyone else.

Tatums had just as many stinkers this playoff run, and Butler was clearly hobbled by injury.

As for bolded, apparently you can because most fans here would rank Jimmy as best player this series

Jimmy Butler wasn’t injured. He had knee soreness. He played 48 minutes in Game 7. He had 4 great games. He had 3 games where he was below average by his standards. Great player but let’s use some context…..at age 24 he couldn’t hold Tatum’s jock strap. It took him a long time to get this good and he burned a lot of bridges on the way. I think he and Giannis have been the best 2 players in playoffs so far but Tatum was right there with them.

[KamikazeK]

He had higher peaks for sure, but he also had 3 stinkers. And everyone is hurt at this point, Tatum is sure as hell playing injured.

I think Butler had the better series FWIW, but he had the luxury of going 1 on 1.

yeah people are way overstating this Butler thing. If it wasn't Butler scoring, who else would it be on that team? That team in this series has basically just been Jimmy Butler. You can't score like 6 points in losses in multiple games and act like you vastly outplayed everyone else.

As for bolded, apparently you can because most fans here would rank Jimmy as best player this series

bro people are just being good sports about it, Jimmy lost, so he gets some token praise and then everyone goes back to talking about the winners. it's not that serious. If he was the clear best player then he would have won the trophy, he didn't.

[nikster]

yeah people are way overstating this Butler thing. If it wasn't Butler scoring, who else would it be on that team? That team in this series has basically just been Jimmy Butler. You can't score like 6 points in losses in multiple games and act like you vastly outplayed everyone else.

As for bolded, apparently you can because most fans here would rank Jimmy as best player this series

bro people are just being good sports about it, Jimmy lost, so he gets some token praise and then everyone goes back to talking about the winners. it's not that serious. If he was the clear best player then he would have won the trophy, he didn't.

Not sure why you'd think the award goes to the best player on the series and not just best player on the winning team

[TheGOATRises007]

Tatum is a very good player.

But he's a clear level below Luka. Swap the two - the Celtics would be favorites over GS and I'm not sure the Mavs would get past Phoenix.