Despite the Boston Celtics overcoming every playoff challenge with flying colors, the same just can’t be said about their talisman, Jayson Tatum. The 26-year-old has consequently been subjected to scrutiny all postseason long, with Shannon Sharpe’s case being the latest in this trend. The ESPN analyst pulled no punches either, even bringing up Michael Jordan and Kevin Durant to slam JT.
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While several underlined Tatum getting double-teamed as the major reason for his terrible displays, Sharpe rejected the notion outright.
Instead, he demanded the Celtics star push through these challenges to become the biggest star of the current era. After all, his predecessors had done the same during their playing days, setting the standard for lead superstars in the NBA. Expressing his two cents on ESPN’s First Take, the 55-year-old stated,
“Kobe [Bryant] got double-teamed. KD [Kevin Durant], LeBron [James], Michael [Jordan], all the great players get double-teamed. We’re asking him [Jayson Tatum] to be the face of the NBA and now we’re saying he is struggling cause he got double-teamed?…He is struggling shooting the basketball”.
Much to Tatum’s dismay, Sharpe wasn’t the only panelist who was critical of his displays. At the beginning of the segment, Stephen A. Smith also called out the 5x All-Star for underperforming in the NBA Finals, mentioning, “At the end, I gotta look at you and what the expectation is…and that’s not what he is doing”.
This portrayed an important aspect of Tatum’s recent performances in the playoffs. Despite averaging higher minutes, his scoring form has declined notably. For instance, in the recent two NBA Finals games, JT merely averaged a mere 17 points per game. This is significantly lower than his regular season average of 26.9, adding to the concerns of the Celtics fanbase.
However, he has made up for it with timely contributions to the team in other aspects of the game. Registering 10.3 rebounds, and 6.3 assists per game in the ongoing playoffs, he has remained at the center of the roster’s actions.
That said, the Celtics superstar still needs to find a way to overcome the current challenges. After all, the opposition has started to feel a significantly lower amount of pressure when he is on the court now. This has also led to his teammates having to bail him out, only justifying the analysts’ remarks.
Needless to say, the time has come for him to up his level of play by several notches. But does he have it in him to do it?
