Jayson Tatum says Boston’s title should end the ‘debate’ on his elite status

Jayson Tatum is not only an NBA champion, but he’s also just recently signed the richest contract in league history with the Celtics. Now, he decided to get a fresh haircut as he’s landed in Las Vegas to unite with the Team USA training camp for his first practice this Monday. The forward is convinced all of this now means he’s an elite player, without question. 

The Boston star attended the press after being excused from the opening two days of preparation for the Olympic Games in Paris. “A hundred percent,” he said when asked about this new-found status. “Just being at the topic of discussion of so many debates or whatever it is … ‘Can he lead a team? Is he a top-five player?’

“There’s still a lot of things I guess they can debate,” he first acknowledged. “But now I’ve done something that they can’t debate: I’ve won a championship. Having that under my belt, like obviously it’s still conversations to be had or whatever people want to say, but they always got to refer to me as an NBA champion.”

.@keyshawn says a Finals win ends the elite debate on Jayson Tatum:

“If he goes down as one of the greatest, what other box does he have to check?” pic.twitter.com/Q457nexGo9

— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) July 9, 2024

Let’s check on the numbers. Tatum led the Massachusetts club to a league-leading 64 regular-season triumphs and even went 16-3 in the playoffs, which is the second-best mark in history outside of Golden State’s 16-1 record in 2017.

In a way, Jayson is still high up in the clouds just thinking about all the excitement he just experienced after winning the championship. He recalled that the title parade around the city were “the best two hours of my life” and that it was even difficult to explain how “insane” the atmosphere was in Boston during the festivities.

However, the greatest thing about his organization is that all this glory isn’t enough for them, as their ambitions are set on conquering another title this upcoming campaign. “Joe (Mazzulla) is already trying to draw up s— for next season,” he shared with a smile. “And I was like, ‘Joe, f— that. We just won a championship. Enjoy it. Relax.’

“Like, I’m not worried about any sets that he’s trying to put in right now. We had a laugh about it, because he’s just so driven — which we all are, but it’s like, man, we worked so hard for this. So we got to enjoy it.”

The Boston squad will continue to enjoy roster continuity heading into next season, as they are not expected to make big changes this summer

One of the biggest secrets behind the Celtics’ success is due to the fact that they haven’t pursued big roster changes in the past two to three years, and this offseason won’t be the exception. At this point, they’ve only just re-signed big men Neemias Queta and Luke Kornet, but stamped a deal for Xavier Tillman in free agency.

With Tatum and Derrick White secured in long-term contracts, the Boston organization has retained 13 of their 15 champions, as only Sri Mykhailiuk and Oshaeo Brissett have been replaced by first-round pick Baylor Scheierman.

“We had a hell of a team,” Jayson assured. “Obviously the guys that did play, but the guys in our ‘stay ready’ group are extremely talented whenever we called upon them. I think the camaraderie that we had was such a close-knit team that we all got along really, really well.

“I didn’t really want any changes. I thought we had a really, really good team on all fronts.” One thing we’ve learned for sure is, when a squad finds chemistry, it’s better not to mess around with it too much.