Jayson Tatum on the pressure of playing for the Celtics: “The career I have right now, if I had it with the Grizzlies, I would have a statue outside the arena.”
This one of the few times I seen Tatum throw shade like that.
I understand his point. He generally has nothing but good things to say about smaller franchises I believe (talking about how fans in Charlotte and small cities deserve to see him at his best as much as anyone).
I think his general point is just Boston is the top of the top. I’m surprised he name dropped a team to build up that point though lol
Tbf if he was drafted to Memphis he obviously wouldn’t have a championship on his resume
I think Tatum would’ve turned out excellent no matter where he got drafted but team accomplishments like championships are much more luck and situation dependent than the average fans wants to admit
Its like… wholly dependent on where you are drafted. At least the first 4 years, but really the first 8ish given guys will want to lock in as much money on their first extension as possible. Even Lebron couldnt get it done in his first Cleveland stint… had to come back to pair with two other number one picks lol
Who was the second number #1 pick. You got kyrie then who?
Not sure what this guy is talking about as they were the only #1 picks on the team. Could be he’s thinking of K Love who was drafted in the top 5 I think
I was, thanks.. because he was traded for using a #1 pick
Completely forgot the Cavs drafted wiggs lol
They also drafted Anthony Bennett.
TWO number one picks - Bennett too.
Cavs used 4 number 1s to get the big 3.
Maybe they’re referring to Wiggins, who was shipped for Love? It would be weird not to include Bennet, though, in that case. Unless there’s someone else I’m forgetting on that team.
I was wondering since bennet and wiggins didn’t play in 2014⁄15 with bron and kyrie
It was three, kyrie, anthony bennett and andrew wiggins, who were traded for Kevin love
LeBrons pressure being from Cleveland, and Cleveland never won before was extremely high though.
LeBrons first stint in Cleveland was insanely impressive for his age. His team fucking blew ass. If he had tatums teams he would have destroyed.
This season is some more ammo for the “Tatum is a very good player on a great team” crowd
Half of the guys playing for the Celtics this year are either rookies or were close to being out of the league if they didn’t play well this year. Only 4 rotation players left from that title team not counting Tatum obviously
Someone brought up on our sub the JB is the only rotation player right now drafted higher than 25th
That’s crazy
I don’t know. That team built around Tatum instead of Ja is better and they were contenders there for a minute. They don’t deal with the stupid bullshit with gun photos. I think a ring was achievable in specifically Memphis for him.
Swap ja and tatum. Does Memphis go all the way 2 seasons ago?
Boston definitely doesn’t win with Ja
Definitely
It’s also the length of the franchise. The Grizzlies are what, in the three newest teams? Only the reboot Hornets are newer, and even that can be confusing for people.
I don’t think he’s wrong. We have never won a championship so if we won one with us, then yeah, he’d have a statue.
Grizzlies: why he say fuck me for
I don’t even feel disrespected by this. We don’t have a championship. He’s right.
Edit: my flair is pacers because I grew up in Indy. I live in Memphis now.
ever since he tore his achilles he’s been way less ultimate pr training guy he was
He slips them in every once in a while.
A few years ago he talked about how he wasn’t gonna not play in a game a kid came to see him in just because they were only playing in Charlotte on a Tuesday night on league pass.
Some Hornets fans took it as an insult, but the gist of it is that he was going to take that game seriously even against a weaker team.
He threw shade at Charlotte once
If you’re talking about the comment he said about how finds it important to play on the road in front of fans that don’t get to see him all the time, I don’t think it was necessarily shade, I just think Celtics Hornets games are kinda meh, and they seem to be scheduled at strange times, like day games, pretty often.
Unless theres some other comment I’m missing.
Naw full context was def implying Charlotte is a rest stop for superstars, which I get, not hatin on Tatum for it, but it was shade for sure ha
I hear that, think it was less him taking a dig at Charlotte and maybe more leaning into that reputation of Charlotte as a city to rest in.
Tatum did go to Duke nearby and IIRC has said things about the Duke love he gets at Hornets games. But I could be tripping
You most definitely trippin cause Charlotte is a UNC city ha. There’s a reason none of us are calling Kon a hometown boi.
Appreciate the context - thank you!
It’s not shade at all. He’s saying that in Boston you can be people’s idol, kids’ idol, can win, carry the franchise, be raised to heavens from day 1, but the moment someone mentions anything like top 5 all time Celtic people go “whoa whoa whoa not even top 15”
Most cities and franchises don’t have that “privilege”.
And he’s not wrong either.
Grizz fan here. He’s not wrong.
He aint wrong!!!
Damn Grizzlies fans catching strays all day
Ever since “Fine in the West” we have been the punching bag of the league both on and off the court.
There is not a single individual outside of the franchise that takes them seriously and everyone (and I mean everyone) feels comfortable calling them poverty.
i mean there are much worse run franchises itl but yea you guys have gotten really unlucky since that 2022 team
I don’t even think unlucky is the right word to use; they’ve made the bed they’re still laying in by doubling down on two non-franchise players and trying to build around their fatal flaws/unavailability.
Like I don’t even think Tatum is wrong it just doesn’t feel good hearing someone say “if I was on your dogshit franchise you’d look at me like the second coming of God himself”.
Tf were we supposed to do? Trade Ja and Jaren at the first sign of trouble and play draft roulette for a decade? No big name star is getting traded or signing here. Of course we’re going to try and build around what we have.
We aren’t an easy mode franchise like LA or Boston that gets whatever they want. Low level role players signing with us in FA is considered a huge win.
Tatum can pat himself on the back all he wants, but he’s been in basically the best possible situation for his whole career, with a stacked roster in the joke conference
This is the price for committing battery against the whole league in the early to mid 2010s.
Kevin Durant still hates the entire city of Memphis because of that playoff series. We’ll always have that.
Mr. Unreliable headline raised some eyebrows, lifted the curtain a little and let us see what was going on behind the scenes
Those were the days
What’s funny is just before that they had been asking Ja which teams he was looking out for, as far as being a potential playoff opponent, and he said the Celtics, and that’s why the comment about the west came next. So he was actually giving the Celtics props, and a couple years later we’ve got the star Celtic saying Memphis is ass.
Truth hurts. When your a bottom tier franchise any player that plays well and plays there long enough gets their jersey retired or a statue
Can’t wait for the Deandre Jordan statue
That’s why the clippers are retiring CP3. Maybe even kawhi..
Are we pretending retiring Chris Paul is some crazy thing? He’s one of the best point guards of all time and spent a lot of his prime on the Clippers lol
Pretty wild he only spent 6 years with the Clips
Retiring CP after how things went down this year? Feels weird lol
Considering what they did to Blake it’s not really that weird
He would have a good point if he were merely talking about individual achievements.
But then he talks about getting a ring, and part of the reason he has a ring is because he was drafted by an excellent franchise instead of a shitty franchise.
Dell Curry for example
doesnt even feel like an insult, Tatum has a ring and multiple 1st teams that enough for a lot of teams to give a guy statue
We talking about Justin Timberlake’s team?
Our owner is a war criminal and we are getting clowned. End our suffering.
It turns out the owner is getting hype every time Ja does a weapons related celly
Free advertising
Justin Timberlake is a war criminal?
No he’s a tour criminal
What tour?
The War Tour
banger
If people keep saying this Perra will be like: “No! I am the owner! I am the war criminal! Not him!
Then challenge Yuki Kawamura to a game of 1 on 1.
The world tour?
Bro deleted his account to take matters into his own hands
Team so Bad he deleted his Account
you have the power, torches and pitchforks, team needs to be publicly owned like the Packers
why stop at that team
Hornets and Grizzlies always catching strays
At least the Grizzlies have been somewhat good in the past.
I might’ve put them on my list of small market teams w/ consistently good front offices until recently, right alongside SAS, OKC, and IND. Probably will have to up them back up there if they turn things around.
Well, you’re not wrong.
im sorry
You don’t need to be sorry haha it’s not your fault we haven’t won a playoff series since 2002.
yeah but that fukn sucks regardless of whose fault it is
bad for the hornets & bad for the whole league tbh
At least the Grizzlies are still the Grizzlies. The Bobcats stole valor from a team that made it to the second round a few times in the 90s, to sell more merch…
Sorry for the additional stray Charlotte.
The Jays feeling extra spicy today.
Both been disrespected they whole careers despite being some of the winningest mf youngins I ever fucking seen lol
“Lemme get a uhhhhh I guess I’ll have another ECF appearance as a snack, Embiid you want anything?” - Tatum and Brown, probably.
Tatum hate threads mean he’s coming back any day now
Tatum’s my guy, but there’s a reason you get a statue for that. It’s a hell of a lot harder to take the Grizzlies org to a title.
I mean he’s right.
A great player that a team drafted that then also leads them to even a single ring would be huge for most franchises. Just because most fans only remember dynasties doesn’t mean great players who aren’t part of dynasties are any less important to their respective fanbases.
Agreed. If we drafted a guy who led us to our first nba chip (same as Memphis), he would almost certainly be getting a statue. It’s not shade at all imo
He would certainly be on a path to a statue based on his career so far.
Fun fact: the Celtics only have 2 statues in Boston. One for Auerbach and one for Russell.
I assume Larry will get one soon now that he’s getting up there in age. But yeah, standards are high
Definitely, we don’t have enough room. Will definitely be retiring 0 and 7 though
No Larry is kinda crazy tho
I don’t see this as disrespectful at all. Look what Blake Griffin did/didn’t while on the Clippers and he’s arguably one of the greatest players for the organization all time, and constantly brought up for jersey retirement amongst fans. If a guy like Tatum joined and won one for us, he’d get a statue before entering HOF easily.
Look at Lowry. Dude legit might get a statue and he’s awesome and I love him, but Tatum has realistically done more already for Boston
He’s not wrong, he’d be the a team’s GOAT with about 8 teams or so, just with his current resume.
But with a team like the Celtics or Lakers it’s so hard to even break into the top 3 or 5 of franchise legends.
Celtics, Lakers and Bulls are the toughest franchises to build a career in for sure. The comparisons one needs to endure is relentless.
I don’t actually think Bulls is that tough. I think the fanbase and media is realistic enough to not compare anybody to Jordan.
Celtics and Lakers if you don’t win a ring you are considered a failure.
This is quite true. As a Bulls fan, we found an oasis in what has been a mostly moribund existence. The next player that leads the bulls to a championship will be a legend and won’t be compared to Micheal.
The debate would be who is better, the next guy or Scottie. Jordan is in his own realm.
People bring up that talking point about comparisons to Jordan for any star who plays for the Bulls but I don’t think it would be all that bad. The comparisons are usually used as a compliment when the current player is playing well, not a “why can’t this guy be literally Michael Jordan” sort of thing.
Also Bulls fans aren’t spoiled by 50 years straight of being pretty successful, it’s mostly just that one legendary version of the team. We just retired DRose’s jersey which probably wouldn’t happen without a championship for those other franchises.
First Charlotte now Memphis. Who’s next? New Orleans?
Meanwhile we’re just eternally clowned on…
I literally forgot the Kings existed. That’s got to be worse than being clowned on
Grizzlies are probably immune to these strays by now
People constantly shit talk this team like we haven’t been a consistent playoff-level team in the west for the better part of 20 years in the toughest location in the league
Well the story about your owner being a war criminal isn’t helping things.
Do you develop the same and have the same supporting cast?
That’s irrelevant to the point he was making, which is that the pressure in Boston is higher than in most places.
I’m shocked how many people in this thread don’t understand that.
Its not irrelevant at all, its completely related. The pressure is higher when you get better teammates, coaching, opportunities, of course theres more expectations of success.
He’s not talking about pressure caused by recent franchise success, he’s talking about pressure created by historic success. There’s plenty of franchises without a long history of success who have a period of good management and draft luck and as a result have spells similar to the Celtics during Tatums career. The context in such a situation is different when it comes to leaving behind a legacy as a franchise legend, that’s Tatums point.
Who’s to say historic success doesn’t have an impact right now? They’re a franchise with a winning history, a winning culture and a winning mindset. Of course luck is involved, but they know how to be a winning team in the east, and to think that is irrelevant to Tatum is a bit naive.
It’s honestly bizarre that so many people are completely missing his point and it isn’t even a complicated thing to understand.
Mfers really are dumb as fuck out here
Of course not. His career would look very different, he certainly wouldn’t have a ring
Even if he was the exact same player he would’ve never had Jrue, White, Brown, KP and Horford
Tatum has had multiple historic level supporting casts who’ve had +10 net ratings per 100 with him off the court
Multiple is crazy, really just 23-24. A lot of those runs prior to the title season were with Marcus Smart as the third option
Brother he’s a 6’9 2 Way point forward that scored on all 3 levels that supporting cast not carrying him to 4 1st team All NBAs which is more then any Grizzly by a mile.
thats not really his point, boston winning titles 50 years ago isnt why the celtics are good today
I mean it’s true, but he doesn’t have to say it like that
No mvps, no finals mvps, no dpoys, he’s had a solid career sure, but I dont think what he’s done so far merits a mid career statue.
But i understand it was a tongue in cheek comment.
bruh Grizzlies goats are Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol and Mike Conley. Their goats ain’t even stars.
He’s a 4 time 1st team all nba and 2x gold medalist?
Thank god he didn’t say Minnesota 🙏🙏🙏
Thankfully we are solidly out of this conversation these days.
It’s true and it’s not shameful. Great player, drafted there, won a ring. He’d be the GOAT of many franchises but not the Celtics.
Pointless hypothetical
His career would look wildly different if he was on the Grizzlies lol
He’s not far off. I don’t think fans are really receptive to these kinds of observations, which could easily be interpreted as whining, but in most other franchises he’d already be at least a consensus top 3 player of all time.
Lol what’s with the statues
Memphis just getting targeted today
This is like the pointless hypothetical that users on this sub throw out to argue Player A vs player B lmao
He is right, Boston has too many legends and wouldn’t consider a statue of him but the Hornets might’ve if he played for them.
I mean he isn’t wrong.
Why are we always taking shots? What did we do to you Tatum
Ja morant also be taking shots at people.
He also would’ve had Ja’s supporting cast and front office instead of the amazing one he was drafted too. Dude has been playing in the league on easy mode and is complaining lol
He’s not wrong
The Grizzlies don’t get gifted superstars like the Lakers or Celtics do lol.
When have the Celtics been gifted superstars haha. Any other team could have made the moves they made. The Celtics could never have signed Lebron or recruited a guy like AD. Either way, outside of maybe JB there’s not a single person who Tatum has played with that could be called a superstar
He’s not wrong but it’s not a Memphis specific thing. honestly you do what he did for almost every franchise outside of the Lakers and the Celtics and you’re probably getting a statue. Most teams don’t have multiple championships let alone completely different cores from each championship era.
No tf he wouldn’t. Dude comes off full of himself. He wouldn’t have a ring if he was drafted to Memphis. He’d probably leave as soon as he realized they can’t bring help. He wouldn’t have a damn statue.
Can you read? He’s saying he’d have a statue if he had the same exact career in Memphis as he does now, not if he was drafted there and things played out - obviously that would be a different story.
His point is that bringing a ring to a franchise with 17 prior rings + numerous HOFers/GOATs is way less impactful than bringing a ring to a franchise with 0. And who’s GOAT is Marc Gasol (sorry).
Personally I’m not even a fan of Tatum .. but this is just facts
He’s saying if he had the same career. You’re describing a different career.
Lmfao grizzlies catching mean strays. I get what he saying though
He’d have the number 1 selling jersey in Russia for sure.
This is hilarious, one of the most disrespectful things a star has said in a while.
Grizzlies catching strays but half the teams in the league would build him a statue if he had his career (including winning a chip) with them.
We won a chip recently and he’d easily be the franchise GOAT if he had the same career he had with the Cs with us lol.
Only teams that wouldn’t build him a statue are teams with multiple chips.
I was going to hate on this but he’s right. Only thing I would say is that Jayson Tatum was not leading a Memphis team or any smaller market team to a championship. If you put him on OKC maybe they still win but I’m not sure. He’s in a bigger market with a very well run front office. That Celtics team was stacked.
He’s about to get that chance
This is why I never liked his corny ass ngl
eyeroll
Tatum wouldn’t have a statue before he retired.
What kind of arrogant mess is that?
This isn’t to be taken literally. His point is that being a great player on the Celtics is not enough to be included in the Celtics’ list of legends who won championships. Could have said any team that doesn’t have the same legacy.
He’s right. Put his career anywhere besides Boston, San Antonio and the Lakers and he probably does have a statue.
If he was drafted to the Grizzlies, there’s no Jaylen Brown to carry him in the finals
hilarious stray but he’s isn’t wrong
this is where the nfl has a leg up in PR on the nba. in the nfl you dont hear players and talking heads crap on specific cities like this. bad franchises or owners catch strays maybe but talk like this this is directed at cities in nba circles.
and a guy like Tatum is just fortunate he got drafted where he did but he needs to farm more praise? goofy
Well yeah Jayson. The franchise you’re playing for has Larry Bird and Bill Russell.
I don’t think this is a fair assessment, it wouldn’t be a statue. More likely they’d name a murderous drone after him. You know, the ones that help your (down low) Russian allies kill Ukrainians protecting their homeland.
He wouldn’t have the same resources to win a chip with the Grizzlies
But he did win a championship lol, when was this filmed?
Probably meant that his one championship with the Celtics doesn’t compare to what Russell/bird did, but one championship on the grizz would be a much bigger deal
It would but you, I and everyone here all know the Grizzlies are never winning a championship and I don’t think there’s a single iteration of the Grizzlies where adding just Tatum makes them a champion
We just watched an Indy/OKC final, no reason the Grizz can’t make a run in the next decade.
I’d be careful about never. I thought the Nuggets never would then we lucked into our franchise GOAT in the 2nd round.
Unlikely? Sure. But crazy shit happens.
Hmm, did the injury change him. Maybe
Tfw they build a statue for Finals MVP Brown instead.
Go get some therapy bro. Some of these guys can have all the accomplishments in the world and still be unable to fill that void in their souls for a pat on the back and recognition.
And yes, this is fuel that can fire high lev attainment, in athletics or any field, but at some point you have to find the self-awareness.
Are you literally dumb? He’s just saying the Celtics franchise is historic. It’s nothing about himself
Celtics don’t need Tatum though, they’re just fine without him
Yeah no shit
“Why did he say fuck me for??”
He’s not lying tho.
What he say fuck me for ?
Lmao Ja catching strays
Cool, man.
Grizzlies compared to the Celtics are still practically a new franchise. The Celtics have like 50 years of basketball history before the Grizzlies even existed, so it is kinda a Captain Obvious statement.
They both talking crazy.lol.
Let’s not act like he also doesn’t benefit from being on one of the darling NBA franchises
Shots fired
Kings would build you a 10 statue outside if you win them a NBA ring
He’s not wrong lol
JB and JT really sneak dissing this week.
Guy won one hospital ring and already talking about statues. This is why no one likes his corny ass.
Didn’t brown get the finals MVP?
This must be some blizzard driven aberration, he actually showed some semblance of a personality!
Grizzly that means you suck
It’s like the first time the Jets get a QB who can throw 50 yards in a game, he will get a 20 year deal
You technically could’ve been a Net but go off bro
He’s not wrong either
I have this hoodie. It’s comfy and warm af
If he was with the Grizzlies he wouldn’t have the career he has now. Boston has given him elite roster after elite roster to work with.
LOOOOOOOOOOOOL
Wow the quotes are really flying out of Boston today huh
These dudes are crazy