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Tatum has not been good this playoffs. All efficiency has been down, he's been making bone headed mistakes, he's kind of been folding under some of the expectations this year. Jaylen Brown has been outperforming him so far in the ECF, Derrick White has been a better player overall for the playoffs the role players have really been stepping up overall. Really like what I've seen from Kornet, Pritchard, Hauser. Jrue has been really good this playoffs, Al Horford has been massively outperforming his age, and JB has been making some of the most important buckets. It really feels like if JB's shot is falling the Celtics are unbeatable. All of this with Porzingis still waiting to hop back in.

It makes me think of the more classic "superstar" carried teams. The LeBron Cavs, Butler Heat, Jokic Nuggets, Giannis Bucks, you KNOW exactly who is going to win their team the game. Like yes, they have guys behind them (less so for LeBron, especially in 2018), but their Robins are true Robins. Middleton, Murray, Bam/Herro, etc. they have their games, but at no point do you feel there is a loss of who's team it truly is. Clearly the if these teams win the FMVP is very likely to go to Jokic, Giannis, Butler, LeBron, etc.

I have a hard time really classifying Tatum as a "superstar" in the league. I will admit that what he did in their 2022 run was really nice, especially in that game 6 at Milwaukee where he became a flamethrower, but Tatum has always felt like he lacked that "dog" mentality. Like he's just a smart good star player at basketball. There's a reason why most people say Tatum is "an AI generated superstar" because when you watch him play, when you hear him talk, it's just kind of like "whatever".

It feels like if Boston wins, the credit won't really be that heavily on Tatum, even if he manages to secure the FMVP (which I think a lot of people would really doubt he does considering the other guys on the team). This doesn't feel like a "Jayson Tatum team". I've never seen a "superstar" so blatantly replaceable as Jayson Tatum on their team. I don't really believe that he is a superstar but just a nice star player that gets a bit more credit than he deserves because he plays on a stacked Boston Celtics team. Because they are the Celtics, the league and the city of Boston will market Tatum like the face of their sports scene and superstar in the league, but he is closer to that "nice star player" that has his moments type of deal. I mean in this playoffs, most everyone would say so far that Anthony Edwards, Luka Doncic, SGA, Jokic, and Brunson have been clearly better superstars for their teams than Tatum has been at all for Boston.

It kind of pushes me back to how Tatum was drafted to an immediate contending team, he's been always in the playoffs because Boston has been contending with him since day 1, he's had the most opportunity to succeed of nearly ANY elite prospect and this year has been the most obvious "Boston take it" year there ever was and somehow in the most clear moment of it all, he's not been up to a standard that you would expect for someone of his caliber. I was never sold on Tatum being "that guy" until the 2022 playoffs, and then I thought, "alright he's actually really good" but this year as kind of reverted that big time and I don't see Tatum being able to do something amazing like what Curry did in Boston in 2022, or what Giannis did in game 6 in the finals in 2021, or how Butler completely dismantled the Bucks in the first round last year, I can see a world where Tatum makes the right plays because his COACH put him in a position where all the elite talent around him is setting him up to succeed, but I can't see Tatum purely outplaying and ascending to a new height. Especially considering how Boston has not felt that special against Indiana so far, it's tough to really think highly of Tatum and even if he becomes a champion this year, and maybe Boston becomes a dynasty, but it feels like Tatum just happened to be in the right place at the right time, rather than being the driver of his own destiny and it feels like he might end up overrated years down the line when people see his All NBA 1st team selections and playoffs numbers when if you watched the game you'd never have felt that he was some all time great type of player.

I mean I'd be shocked if Boston manages to beat Dallas in the finals, truthfully, because the finals are almost always determined by "who is the best player on the court" and Tatum will not be the best player on the court, he might not even be the best player on his own team in those finals, and it really continues this narrative of how Tatum is "boring" and "auto generated" and "a filler star" and all the other criticisms that go his way.

I'd rather be Tatum on good teams than KG on those Minnesota teams

Celtics, especially this season, seem good enough as a collective to overcome the need for a superstar taking over when needed (pistons 2004, spurs 2014). Celtics 2024?

Feels good actually (disregarding his 36 point and all round terrific performance in game 1 of the ECFs)

Unlike many other franchises/teams were are not obsessed/fixated on one player's stats and legacy.

We are only aiming to win bring back to back to Boston championship number 18, and the fact Tatum has not being at his optimal form so far can only be a good thing. The Celtics organisation or Jayson himself didn't place him on this pedestal btw, that was the media's burden to automatically assume he would be another Kobe/Wade etc

This is a very long rant about “beliefs” that ignores facts. Tatum led all players in the last series in points, rebounds, assists, steals. He’s averaging 29.5/9/4.5 in the ECF. His FG% and FT% overall are fine, his 3pt% is what is off.

He’s not exactly being led. Has Brown been better for two games? Maybe (I’d say Tatum was better in game 1, but Brown hit the biggest shot).

Regardless Tatum isn’t being carried. That is just plain incorrect.

Only goal is getting the title this year. Tatum carried us all regular season this year and plenty of reg. seasons and playoffs in the past. Only ppl who care about Tatum's individual performance are non Celtic fans. Very strange.

We just want the team to win no matter who's playing well.

The gap between him and other players on the team is not that big compared to most teams, but he still remains their best player.

As for going to the Finals and possibly winning it, I doubt it will change much my opinion that he's somewhere between 5th and 10th best player in the league.

Nothing changes. He is a really talented player on a great team. Probably makes the top 10 on most best player in the league list. Unlikely to make the top 5.

It doesn't make any difference to be honest, the Celtics have always succeeded due to their overall talent it's never been Tatum carrying them to success. No one was expecting Tatum to do a carry job in these playoffs it was always going to be an ensemble with him as the leading man.

That's not to say Tatum isn't a great player, he is, but he's somewhere between 5th-10th best in the league. The type who may win an MVP someday due to team performance but few will seriously propose he's the best player in the world. The Celtics are well built and deep, he's in an awesome situation and I'm sure he's thrilled.

He hasn't had to carry them at all due to opponents, and how the team is built. They are a balanced team, and have been all season.

He’s not the alpha the media desperately tries to portray him as. Brown is coming for his playoff awards

Just give me a title. I don't give a damn how Tatum performs if the collective team is winning games.

People often forget that basketball is a TEAM sport.
Tatum is doing a good job, just like Brown, Jrue, Al, White, etc...
If they win a championship, who cares if Tatum or Brown was the best player of the playoffs. They need both.

Tired and false narrative.
Tatums 3 ball is off but he is scoring big buckets and playing solid basketball. Grabbing big boards and making good decisions.

We're all dumb now.

Nobody in the 80s was like "It's Bird versus Magic, it's whichever superstar delivers most." We're bombarded by infantile and reductive "analysis" because it's lazier than explaining rotations, role players, coverage schemes, and coaching tactics.

How do we feel about lame bait threads like this one?

How do I feel about something that isn't happening? Impossible to say.

Godymas wrote:I mean I'd be shocked if Boston manages to beat Dallas in the finals

You do realise we beat them quite easily in both games this season ?

why should fans care? Celtics FO has assembled one of the best teams in recent years and is relatively healthy at the right time, Tatum will probably still be the eventual FMVP in the event of a championship, win-win.

Tatum isn't shooting the ball well but he's been solid at the other facets of the game. His driving collapses defenses more than Brown's, and Tatum is a vastly superior playmaker.

At the end of the day, Brown is still a finishing type scorer. A small wing version of Amar'e Stoudemire who combines an ability to bulldoze to the rim, with a really nice pull up counter. While his on-ball scoring has been nice in the playoffs, he has a negative assist-to-turnover ratio, and he's shooting 63% from the line. I think Brown is very good but his role isn't as expansive as the other Jay.

Wake me up when the Celtics are in a series. How Tatum performs then will do a lot more for his reputation than overreacting to his cold shooting in 4-1 series wins against injured opponents.