Ever since Jayson Tatum stepped foot onto an NBA court, the Boston Celtics haven’t missed the postseason throughout his eight-year tenure with the team. Of course, the upcoming 2025-26 season will be different courtesy of Tatum rehabbing a torn Achilles. And yet somehow he’s not as loved as he should be.
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Even within the Celtics fanbase, many don’t believe Tatum holds a flame compared to the legends of the past era. If the discussion were strictly due to championships, then perhaps there would be a basis for an argument. Will Tatum ever be better than Larry Bird? At his current pace, it doesn’t look like that will happen.
But Celtics legend Cedric Maxwell believes Tatum remains in exclusive company. Maxwell played on two of those Celtics championship teams in the 1980s. He, in fact, claims Tatum is better than one of the greatest Celtics legends, one he played along with.
“[Jayson Tatum’s] skillset puts him in a stratosphere by himself,” Maxwell said on The Cedric Maxwell Podcast. “Is Tatum better than John Havlicek? Yeah, with his skillset.”
Maxwell’s comments won’t land easily on Celtics fans who have watched Havlicek play. The city of Boston treats Havlicek as a figure who can’t and won’t be touched. But Maxwell isn’t saying Tatum’s legacy is greater than Havlicek’s. Far from that. He is attesting that pound for pound, when it comes to what they can do on the court, it shouldn’t be a question of who is better.
“But I’m looking at Tatum’s ability to create for other people, his foot speed, his height, and his ability to shoot the ball. John wasn’t there,” Maxwell proclaimed. “From a skill standpoint, Tatum has to be one of the top three players to ever play with the Celtics.”
Maxwell understands that people won’t like his statement, but urges older fans to stop living in the past. The Celtics have two great players in Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, currently on the roster. Especially, Tatum, who he believes is top-three in franchise history in terms of skill.
He didn’t go on to list the two figures he would have above Tatum, but he did share his personal all-time Celtics starting five.
“[Bill Russell], [Larry Bird], Tatum, Paul Pierce. It’s just hard for me to keep Bob Cousy out of it, regardless,” Maxwell revealed.
Tatum is only 27 years old and is already in these types of conversations with Celtics legends. Although his Achilles injury is a setback he didn’t see coming, he doesn’t intend for his 2022 title to be his last time hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
