“I like Jayson Tatum cuz he’s tall and can defend multiple players”: Tim Hardaway Sr picked Celtics star over Donovan Mitchell as the better prospect in 2018

Jayson Tatum is going to be a better player than Donovan Mitchell through the course of their careers, according to Tim Hardaway Sr.

Both Jayson Tatum and Donovan Mitchell were drafted by two eminently capable front offices in 2017. They’ve navigated similar paths through their careers and are both at the cusp of NBA superstardom today.

However, both of them are also quite young – Spida just turned 25, while Tatum is still only 23. These were the 2 players who posed the most serious challenge to Ben Simmons for Rookie of the Year honors in 2017-18.

Both of them have become obviously better NBA talents than the Australian point guard in that span of time. The question that remains on the mind of those who watch both Boston and Utah is which of these 2 will be more successful.

Also Read – Ben Simmons ahead of Russell Westbrook, are you mental? Kendrick Perkins blasts ESPN for showing disrespect to the former OKC superstar.

Tim Hardaway Sr was asked his opinion on this question a few years ago. His answer was as emphatic an endorsement of Tatum as one could’ve found at the time.

Tim Hardaway Sr picked Jayson Tatum over Donovan Mitchell as the better prospect in 2018

Heat and Warriors legend Tim Hardaway Sr had a career that is quite easily Hall of Fame caliber. However, his induction to the Hall has been held up because of his publicly homophobic comments made in 2007.

To his credit, the 14-year NBA veteran has been a prime example of a person learning from their mistakes. Since the time of those comments, Hardaway Sr has done his best to repent for his words. He has befriended gay and lesbian people and is a vocal supporter of the LGBTQ community.

He is also partaking in other work to benefit the general public. Hardaway Sr partnered with the NBA Cares initiative on an India trip in November 2018. He spoke about a number of basketball topics in his presser at Bangalore at the time.

One of the burning NBA questions of the day which he answered was a comparison of Tatum and Mitchell. Despite being a point guard, Hardaway Sr picked the forward over the guard in this comparison:

“Between the two, in the next 5 years, I will pick Tatum. I like Tatum cuz he’s tall, he can do a lot, he can stick to multiple players on both sides of the court and so he has a lot more in his repertoire – and he can play defense on multiple players.”

Also Read – Did LeBron James stop Kevin Durant when he had the ball for game? When Tim Hardaway Sr called the Nets superstar the only unstoppable player in the NBA.