Brandon Jennings says Jayson Tatum is the softest superstar in Celtics history; Tatum fires back

[MavsDirk41]

In the postseason, is Tatum the best player on his own team?

That's the question.

Iggy won finals mvp in 2015. Was Curry not the best player on GS? Tatum was the best player for Boston last year. Brown had a phenomenal run in the post season. Why should that take away from Tatum?

[Effigy]

I definitely don’t agree with that statement.

Because Tatum isnt a Superstar.

[Devilanche]

I don’t think Jayson is as good as the Celtics probably believes he is , but he’s far and away better than Brandon Jennings . Should have just ignore the noise.

Your point has zero relevance to the criticism that was levied. This is classic deflection.

It wasn’t . Plenty of other folks have criticised Jayson and he didn’t address those, he shouldn’t have engaged in the back and forth with Jennings as well.

[PhilBlackson]

That was a soft ass reply by Tatum, just saying lol if you’re gonna bother acknowledging Jennings existence put that nobody in check.

[shi-woo]

The best part of this is Jennings essentially calling Pierce a savage So true, Pierce is literally one of the most under rated players of all time.

The hate on Tatum needs to stop. He's clearly part of this new era of cats, and they just do things different. As I mentioned in the Blandest Stars thread, Tatum is just hyper focused on his legacy, it's something that unfortunately all the kids growing up watching LeBron have to deal with. They watched inside the NBA too you know. So everything he does in the public eye and on the court is filtered through this.

You just know before every big game Tatum is sitting in his mental saying "This is it, this is my legacy game." Sometimes putting that pressure on himself is good, as he has some of the greatest playoff games of his era like Game 6 MIL and Game 7 PHI. Going at LeBron as a rookie ect. But then we see moments where the pressure gets to him a little, like last years finals, and he struggles just playing the game and not forcing trying to have that defining game.

That has always been Tatum, and I get it, people see the 40-50 points in elimination games against Giannis and Joel and question why he doesn't do that every single game. They want to see that angry Tatum, who I would argue is the most complete player in the league when he just turns his conscious off. That isn't realistic though, other players are also trying to do that same thing.

I don't think Tatum is soft, I just think he reached a level of fame and love from the fans after his explosive run in the playoffs his rookie year, that success has always been the expectation. He's a ridiculously hard worker, is always ready, and has proven time and time again he wants the matchup and he wants the moment. He doesn't scream like a banshee while doing it, and as this article shows, he avoids confrontation and speaking out, something our society views as passive and weak.

He is clearly a Top 10 player in the league, and will be for the majority of his career. As it stands he's the most decorated player of his era, and he's done it his way. These guys can say what they want about JT and how he conducts himself, but when it's all said and done there are only going to be like 20-30 dudes ahead of him on the ATG lists, and he's going to be the most successful player of his era. He is aware of this, he thinks about this, and that's all that matters to him. He already has a better legacy at 26 than 95% of dudes in league history, there is going to be pushback.

Old era of NBA just really hates the new era, and finds nothing positive to say because they think it detracts from their own accomplishments.

[vincecarter4pres]

Like is Jennings right, in that he’s the softest Celtic superstar ever?

Yeah probably.

But does that mean Tatum on his own is actually soft?

Nah, not at all.


It just means the C’s have had some real gritty hard nosed tough guy superstars over the years.


And his hot take about “letting Brown get it” for Finals MVP, says a lot more about Jennings attitude and perspective about a team sport, and playing alongside another star teammate; and really just his selfish, individual achievement outlook on life as a whole.

One of the many reasons he remained an overrated inefficient scrub who had a short career, and an even shorter run as a starter, and an infinitely shorter run as someone mistakenly considered an up and coming star.

[vincecarter4pres]

That was a soft ass reply by Tatum, just saying lol if you’re gonna bother acknowledging Jennings existence put that nobody in check.

Some would say not even giving a loud mouth clown and straight up scrub like Jennings the attention his narcissistic approval seeking bum ass would want is the best way you get at him personally irl, opposed to being worried about what the rest of the talking heads want as a response.

Guaranteed he’s living rent free in Jennings head now, and he’ll play it off like he was just validated.

[reddyplayerone]

Jennings probably wasn't going to be a star, but he probably would've been a serviceable pro for twice as long as he was if he hadn't wrecked his knee, and Idk why people are pretending that just didn't happen lol

Also I don't see how Jennings' career is at all relevant here. Y'all will still call a HOFer a no nothing moron if he says something you don't like so clearly one's career accomplishments aren't buying anyone any credibility lol

But like ultimately I don't even know wtf he means by calling Tatum soft or how that's supposed to be some kind of sleight or something either, like it's just empty babble tbh

Kinda surprised Tatum would even bother responding at all but good for him for sticking up for himself

[Kent]

I've been critical of Tatum in the past, but since winning the championship, he's taken another leap and I respect what he's doing.

He is what he is and he's one of the best in the league.

Only one guy can be the best. It's okay not to be number one yet be in the conversation.

[Mavrelous]

Arenas show is bottom of the barrel, hot take dispensing, rage harvesting piece of crap that manages defile even the dung heap that is YT Sports podcasting, it's beneath Tatum to respond to that, let the dogs bark as the caravan moves on...

[JayMKE]

That was a soft ass reply by Tatum, just saying lol if you’re gonna bother acknowledging Jennings existence put that nobody in check.

Some would say not even giving a loud mouth clown and straight up scrub like Jennings the attention his narcissistic approval seeking bum ass would want is the best way you get at him personally irl, opposed to being worried about what the rest of the talking heads want as a response.

Guaranteed he’s living rent free in Jennings head now, and he’ll play it off like he was just validated.

idk if you guys know what living rent free is but I sincerely doubt Jennings GAF, he called Tatum soft and got you guys digging into bbreference to defend Tatum’s honor come on now.

[Lalouie]

Via MassLive

Jayson Tatum addresses Brandon Jennings barb after Kings loss

BOSTON — One day after firing back against Brandon Jennings “soft” comments on Instagram, Jayson Tatum struggled through one of his worst performances of the year Friday night. The Celtics All-Star piled up a season-high eight turnovers while scoring just 15 points as Boston’s offense sputtered in the second half in a 114-97 loss to a red-hot Sacramento Kings squad.

After the setback, Tatum spoke publicly the first time after the back and forth with Jennings after the point guard had some pointed comments about the superstar.

“Yo, is he the softest Boston Celtics superstar ever?” Jennings asked in an appearance on Gilbert Arenas podcast. “… What do we know about Boston Celtics players? Like anybody that put on a Boston Celtics jersey from the 80s on up. They what? They cutthroat right? If you’re so tough, why you didn’t get Finals MVP last year? Why you let your running mate (Jaylen Brown) do it? If you so tough. If you so all this. Why you didn’t get it? Why you didn’t get it?”

Tatum hears plenty of criticism from all corners of the internet but rarely addresses any remarks head-on like he did with Jennings.

“I don’t know,” Tatum said when asked why he responded this time. “I had some time yesterday.”

When pressed about whether the comments irked him, Tatum remained coy.

“I wasn’t mad,” he said. “I just had some time yesterday.”

Tatum is on the verge of making his sixth consecutive All-Star game after winning an NBA title but did not expect barbs coming his way to slow down.

“Surprised? No. I think it comes with being one of the best players in the league,” Tatum said of the criticism. “And the more you accomplish, the more it gives people an opportunity to nitpick at things. If I wasn’t who I was or had a certain status, people would probably not talk about me as much. But I’m not the first superstar in league history to deal with this. It comes with it.”

Joe Mazzulla has tried to help his Celtics stars keep perspective by showing Tatum and Jaylen Brown how wrong the media has been about certain NBA stars over the course of their career.

“I guess it helps seeing it to put things into perspective,” Tatum said. “It’s (not) something that I didn’t already know. At the end of it, you can look at some of the ridiculous takes people on TV have said about some of the best players to play this game that didn’t necessarily age well. When you see some of the comments that they made about certain guys and how their careers turned out, you just gotta laugh. It’s just part of the journey.”

With the Celtics facing their first patch of adversity on the court for an extended stretch in the past two years (8-7 in last 15 games), more eyes will remain on Tatum to see how he leads this team in response. He didn’t look for any excuses after the team’s worst loss of the year.

“I don’t want to blame why we lost today on it being a trap game,” Tatum declared. “Everybody plays 82 games, everybody travels, everybody plays back to backs. So don’t really want to use that as an excuse. Just, observation, we got to be better in all areas of the game, … we just down the line, everybody, we just got to be better.”

a simple "who?" reply would have sufficed

jennings doesn't understand the concept of "team" and winning a championship

[Enso]

Jennings is just hating but he's doing the lords work, sowing division in the locker room. This team is too good so any destabilization is welcome. It obviously upset Tatum if he commented on it, doesn't take a rocket scientist to know not winning Finals MVP prob really upset him. Tatum and Browns relationship is the key factor on how long this team can stay together and how much success they have.

[The-Power]

It isn't moot, it's relevant. You don't see non-superstar titles very often. It's possible, but it requires a fairly off-putting amount of distributed talent.

If you put him on another team, Tatum would struggle to produce what's necessary for a title under lesser circumstances because he isn't that level of player. And his individual performance is also well below what we see from real superstars. There's no shame in that, there are but a handful of such guys in the league at any given time. But it is relevant when we discuss players.

So, how do you define ‘superstar’ and subsequently measure it? Who is the authority on the definition and the thresholds? This idea that one can somehow objectively differentiate between ‘star’ and ‘superstar’ – neither of which is a clear category with established definitions and measurements – is just so odd to me. One person may call Tatum a star, another may call him a superstar, and neither would be inherently wrong.

Also, having a good supporting cast is always necessary. Even the best players in the league won't win a title with a lot of teams in any given season. Once again, the distinction between ‘good’ and ‘great’ is fluid and not based on objective measures; and how different players would perform in different team contexts involves a ton of speculation. So I'd urge some more caution and humility here. It's not nearly as obvious and straightforward as you seem to believe.

[SerialChiller]

Even his response is soft hahaha

[SA37]

If Tatum is assumed to be a superstar he probably is the softest one in Celtics history, only one you could argue below him is KG if you want to say he was always fake tough.

But I don't see why that particularly matters. This era is softer by design. More fouls are deemed flagrant, the league brings the hammer down on fighting, etc. If Tatum tried to play as rough as Bird or Russell he'd get ejected.

The Finals MVP comment is also pointless. He didn't miss out on Finals MVP because he was soft, he missed out because he shot the ball poorly and Jaylen Brown crushed it that series.

I don't know what else Tatum has to do to be considered a superstar.

The guy is averaging 29-9-5 on 46-36-80 splits. Last year was 27-8-5 on 47-37-83 splits. The year before was 30-9-4.5 on 46-35-85. Eye-balling it, the guy is averaging 29-8.5-5 on 46-36-83 over the last 3 seasons while being the best player on one of the best teams in the league. He's finished 6th, 4th, and 6th in MVP voting and been an All-NBA 1st teamer all 3 years.

More perspective: this season the only guys averaging a minimum of 25-8-4 are Tatum, Jokic, Doncic, Giannis, and Banchero.

Last season, the only guys to average at least those numbers: Tatum, Jokic, Doncic, Giannis, and Embiid.

2 seasons ago: Tatum, Doncic, Giannis, Embiid, J Randle, and LeBron.

And all of this has been accomplished from age 23-26

[JayMKE]

Tatum really be like “the criticism really puts things in perspective, it’s all part of this NBA journey”

Expecting next line to be about practicing gratitude and manifesting abundance, Tatum is the Eat-pray-love of players

[reddyplayerone]

Tatum really be like “the criticism really puts things in perspective, it’s all part of this NBA journey”

Expecting next line to be about practicing gratitude and manifesting abundance, Tatum is Eat-pray-love of players

Well great now I'm imagining Tatum's house being full of Goop products with a "Bless This Mess" wood cutout hanging on the wall and a copy of "Chicken Soup for the Soul" on the coffee table so thanks for that

[OfficialRef]

Jennings has a point- Tatum is a lot softer compared to even other elite players who actually have a load to carry.

Winning a championship didn't mean anything with this ridiculous Celtics team.

[tsherkin]

So, how do you define ‘superstar’ and subsequently measure it? Who is the authority on the definition and the thresholds? This idea that one can somehow objectively differentiate between ‘star’ and ‘superstar’ – neither of which is a clear category with established definitions and measurements – is just so odd to me. One person may call Tatum a star, another may call him a superstar, and neither would be inherently wrong.

He's objectively not in the first tier of players in the league, and is quite distant from them. That's my general measure. I agree, though, that there's a lot of inherent subjectivity and no specific markers you can easily lean on. I think it's very, very clear that he isn't nearly as good as the top couple of guys in the league, though, which is enough.

Also, having a good supporting cast is always necessary. Even the best players in the league won't win a title with a lot of teams in any given season.

Good, yes. But Boston is spoiled for talent.

So I'd urge some more caution and humility here. It's not nearly as obvious and straightforward as you seem to believe.

No, it's pretty clear to me that Tatum isn't a superstar-level player. I don't consider that a bad thing, though; it is just clarity that he's not among the very small number of guys to whom I apply that label in any given year. Statistically, he's well below the best of the best. In the playoffs, well below. There's a bunch of stuff which goes into it.