Jayson Tatum has had a great year so far. He made the All-NBA First Team (his third in a row), won the NBA Championship (leading his team in total points, rebounds, and assists), and topped it all off with a gold medal at the Paris Olympics. However, Tatum is just getting started.
Advertisement
He reminded the NBA community of just that.
A run like the one JT just had this year is expected to establish a player as the best in the league. But it didn’t have the same effect for the Celtics star as he still received a lot of flak after his NBA Championship win.
Surprisingly, he isn’t fazed by it and believes that the best version of him is yet to come. While speaking with CNBC at the NBA Media Day, Tatum sent out a message for his rivals.
He said, “At 26 and I guess as accomplished as I am, I just always feel like, overall, I can still get better…You haven’t seen the best version of Jayson Tatum.”
“I’m only 26, I should continue to keep getting better.”
"I can still get better… you haven't seen the best version of Jayson Tatum." ✍️👀#NBAMediaDay pic.twitter.com/Ap9txQaMZS
— NBA (@NBA) September 24, 2024
Tatum is motivated to do more in the upcoming season than he did during his championship run. The 26-year-old doesn’t seem to be content by just winning a single championship.
Even though Tatum ended up becoming the NBA Champion, fulfilling his lifelong dream, he couldn’t win the Finals MVP title. The honor went to Jaylen Brown, who did a brilliant job of carrying the hopes of the Celtics throughout the season. Interestingly, the Celtics’ head coach believes that it’s a good thing that JT didn’t win the FMVP.
Joe Mazzulla is happy with Jayson Tatum not winning the FMVP
The Finals MVP title represents the fact that a player was the centerpiece in their team’s success and that’s something that all great players wish to experience. However, Tatum not winning the FMVP isn’t something to worry about, as per coach Joe Mazzulla.
“I talked to Joe a lot. Joe was probably the happiest person in the world that I didn’t win Finals MVP and I didn’t play in two of the games at the Olympics. That was odd. But if you know Joe, it makes sense,” Tatum told reporters.
Jayson Tatum thinks Joe Mazzulla was happy that he didn’t win Finals MVP
“I talked to Joe a lot. Joe was probably the happiest person in the world that I didn’t win Finals MVP and I didn’t play in two of the games at the Olympics. That was odd. But if you know Joe, it makes… pic.twitter.com/qPe3EG8Nki
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) September 24, 2024
The bright side in this scenario, according to Mazzulla, could be that not winning the FMVP this year would help JT be even more motivated to win it next year.
Tatum also believes that this season, despite leading the team in points, rebounds, and assists, he wasn’t at his best. So, the coach and his star player may have their eyes set on an even bigger spectacle the next season.
