legend023 | Pelicans

231 | 6 hours ago

The Celtics would be the 1st seed instead of the 2nd if Tatum was healthy all year. That’s really the only difference

josefjohann | OKC

54 | 5 hours ago

I think giving space for a bunch of high energy role players to succeed beyond their wildest hopes has been good for the team. They might not have been challenged in this way otherwise.

brewin91 | Celtics

44 | 6 hours ago

Tatum might be the MVP if he played the whole season like the last 5 games, which seems entirely possible. Mutant.

Mg29reaper | Celtics

23 | 5 hours ago

Thats lowkey 6’8 jokic who’s a good defender

MVPRondo | Cabo Verde

12 | 5 hours ago

I was scoffed at 7 games ago when I said Tatum would be MVP putting up just points in the 20s but grabbing the rebound and assist numbers he’s been putting up. He really doesn’t need to be the top tier scorer like SGA/Luka to have a chance. Just be mini Joker. He could average 12 boards and 9 assists IMO

CrimsonOffice | DEN

6 | 5 hours ago

That’s just Black Larry Bird, right?

HipnotiK1 | Knicks

7 | 3 hours ago

Plays nothing like joker

OkDonut4987 | Magic

3 | 4 hours ago

great defender

MemorableCactus | Celtics

2 | 2 hours ago

I’ll die on the hill that Tatum is taller than 6’8 by a significant degree. I have him pegged closer to 6’10-6’11. Maybe he was when he came into the league, but if you look at him next to guys who are about that size vs guys who are closer to 7’0, the difference is pretty clear. Even on his own team, Jaylen is 6’7 and Tatum is noticeably taller.

unclairvoyance | BOS

22 | 5 hours ago

The anomaly

PoundImmediateCow

2 | 2 hours ago

Definitely not this year but in a different season maybe

[deleted]

1 | 5 hours ago

[deleted]

DeepJunglePowerWild | Celtics

2 | 4 hours ago

We got them once

sstphnn | Celtics

190 | 6 hours ago

This Jayson Tatum guy is pretty good. Tall and handsome.

yuugen97 | Celtics

59 | 6 hours ago

cool and a cucumber

ketawalk

31 | 6 hours ago

I remember when the Gen Z and Alpha folks narrative was “JT is so corny” after Celtics won the ring. For a short while it was “SGA is more corny”, which had some pushback. Now the corny narrative is gone for JT and SGA is the most focused on player. Felt bad for JT for a while cause that was really all people could hate on in any clip of him

instantur | Celtics

19 | 6 hours ago

Yeah once everyone decides you are corny people will think everything you do is corny

otherworldly-horror | Hornets

3 | an hour ago

I won’t disagree with this statement, but I will say some of the Tatum stuff really did make me audibly groan reading and hearing about it (texting dead Kobe, replicating all the viral clips) but I try to remind myself that to be cringe is to be free and hot damn is that dude balling since coming back from a wild injury in an even wilder amount of time. I can’t help but respect the dude now. Good on the guy.

kill-devil-films

6 | 4 hours ago

Maybe I’m just an old millennial but I never understood the whole “aura” thing. I want people on my team who win games because they play great ball. Tatum is a winner.

ketawalk

5 | 4 hours ago

Yeah its like trying to be cool in high school, where the “cool” kids have aura. And kids try to fit in. Insecurity hits harder especially now with social media. Young generation cares a lot about looks and height with this new looksmaxxing trend blowing up recently. Everything is pretty toxic for the new generation

scottie2haute

3 | 3 hours ago

Crazy cuz gen z is hella close to 30. Like we talk about them like they’re all 15 when alot of them mfs are deep into adulthood still worrying about being cool

donniedarko4141 | Knicks

5 | 3 hours ago

The oldest members of Gen Z are almost 30. The youngest are still in their teens. As an almost-29-year-old member of Gen Z I can tell you the aura and rizz shit wasn’t us

ketawalk

2 | 3 hours ago

~25yo is like the max age Gen Z would care about aura and all that other TikTok stuff, ~20yo is when it kinda starts to drop off due to graduating high school and full time jobs, plus usually college studying combined takes over. Less time on the internet. But of course there is some 30yos still stuck in their kid mentality because they peaked in highschool and can’t let it go. 30yo is known as “unc” status nowadays. “Pushing 30” is a common insult/joke used

For the Gen Alpha NBA, any 90s players mentioned are automatically disregarded in convos comparing modern and old players. They say “unc gotta let it go 💔🥀” with those exact emojis everytime lmao.

Whats worrisome is weed being very common among teens today. Which stunts age and development, staying in an immature mindset. Also its proven anxiety/mental health issues have the highest rates today and keep rising for young teens

midnight-mc | Celtics

6 | 5 hours ago

Just so you know, Gen X are people born in the 70s/80s

ketawalk

5 | 5 hours ago

Corrected it, meant Gen Alpha the TikTok generation. Gen X could care less about something like “corny” JT

normcore_ | USA

-10 | 5 hours ago

Tatum has just been out of the spotlight for a while. He is still more corny than SGA with his rehearsed “anything is possible” clip and texting Kobe nonsense.

SGA just exemplifies foul-baiting which plagues the NBA as a whole and is a more current topic. I’d still rather have a 5 min convo with SGA compared to Tatum, I literally don’t think Tatum could say a single original thing

jusyo | Celtics

3 | 4 hours ago

Why? Tatum at least has opened up a bit on podcasts, to which people still talk shit when he finally gets candid. I have yet to see or hear SGA be interesting what so ever.

itssensei | Cavaliers

26 | 6 hours ago

Pretty grateful guy too

thr0waway2435

7 | 5 hours ago

Underrated looks tbh, he’s such a cutie patootie

yobababi

3 | 38 minutes ago

and hes only 19yo

Kyler1313

154 | 6 hours ago

It was always a stupid take. Tatum could have a 20%TS and still be an asset from his playmaking and rebounding.

MinnitMann | Celtics

110 | 6 hours ago

We won a championship with Tatum as our defensive anchor and people still never value his defense enough. All normies care about is points and shooting splits now, for some reason.

NothingHead8233 | Celtics

48 | 6 hours ago

Hes a top 10 defender in the league and has been for 5 years.

C9Prosecutor

-8 | 3 hours ago

Ridiculous homer take

JohnnyLugnuts

2 | 3 hours ago

Why

C9Prosecutor

-4 | 3 hours ago

Because there is a large amount of defenders better than him.

Sketti- | Celtics

0 | 3 hours ago

You don’t watch the games

C9Prosecutor

-4 | 3 hours ago

Victor Wembanyama
Rudy Gobert
Derrick White (By far your best defender)
Ausar Thompson
Evan Mobley
Dyson Daniels
Draymond Green
OG Anunoby
Amen Thompson
Jalen Williams
Isaiah Hartenstein
Lu Dort
Kawhi Leonard

Just off the top of my head. He’s not a better defender than any of them and I could add more names lol.

Sketti- | Celtics

5 | 3 hours ago

Saying White is our best defender is ridiculous. You’re someone that don’t watch games and watches spreadsheets and analytics. I don’t even have the energy to continue this convo.

QinJ | Wizards

0 | 3 hours ago

Once someone says something you disagree with “no energy to continue the convo”

C9Prosecutor

0 | 3 hours ago

I don’t even think you watch your own games. He is your best POA Defender and miles better at rim protecting than any guard in the NBA.

Sketti- | Celtics

1 | 2 hours ago

There is a reason Brown guards the Lukas the Brunsons the SGAs even when Jrue was on the team and White doesn’t.

But go ahead and quote some dumb ass defensive analytics and on/off stat so you can show you don’t know shit about actual basketball.

White our best POA defender 😂😂😂😂. This sub is full of clowns

C9Prosecutor

1 | 2 hours ago

I think you have a fundamental misunderstanding of what defense really is.

PoundImmediateCow

1 | an hour ago

Wait… you’re saying it’s actually Jaylen brown??😂😂😂😂😂

NothingHead8233 | Celtics

1 | 2 hours ago

The Celtics have had a top 6 defense for every year of Tatum career. Tatum is a legitimate 1-5 defender. Absolutely mauls smaller guards. Has an entire highlight tape of himself putting on clinics against KD. Has basically played center on defense for the last 4 years, and switched out. Since he’s been healthy he has the lowest percentage of made shots while guarding someone in the league. He is, and I mean this, 10 times more important to the Celtics defense than Derrick white. He’s lead the league in D win shares back in 21-22

Because of his versatility I would easily take him over white, Daniels (but I could be persuaded), OG, Jalen, either Thompson twin, hartenstien Dort, and at this point probably Draymond.

He is a better defensive than offensive player. That is how good he is.

C9Prosecutor

1 | 2 hours ago

Brother that’s because you acquire ridiculously good defensive players every single year, Tatum has missed most of this year but the Celtics are still in 4th Defensive rating & 1st in Opp Points per game compared to last years 5th in Defensive rating & 2nd in Opp Pointers per game. Your team is fine without him defensively.
Tatum can defense 2-3.⁵⁄₄, Nobody can actually guard 1-5 and the closest to that is Draymond Green or OG Anunoby.
Literally not a single thing supports him being better defensively than any name you mention here, You overrate “Versatility” when rim deterrence & protection is more valuable of a trait defensively. Even in terms of versatility he isn’t more versatile than OG, Jalen, or Draymond.

C9Prosecutor

1 | an hour ago

Tatum is a good defender for sure but you’re acting like he’s some all world stopper who’s switching off between elite offensive players… just not really him and it never has been

PoundImmediateCow

0 | an hour ago

What a bizarre list. Derrick White is also not the Celtics best defender lol Hugo Gonzalez is. You probably didn’t even know he was an nba player lmao. Do you not even know who Scottie Barnes is? Also dirt and Williams??😭😭 When the thunder have the 2nd best defender in the league (Chet) and the best guard defender in the league and one of the best in history (Caruso) as well as the guy leading the league in steals (Cason)

C9Prosecutor

1 | an hour ago

Derrick White is a better defender than Hugo Gonzalez by every metric even though Gonzalez is still good on that end. I listed Scottie in another comment I just forgot him and a more initially, Either way Jayson Tatum isn’t a top 10 defender.

Blaze4G | Celtics

0 | 3 hours ago

Name 10 better defenders

C9Prosecutor

-1 | 2 hours ago

Just going to copy the quick list I sent another guy, There are more but it’s just wha I could think of without looking it up

⁠Victor Wembanyama
⁠Rudy Gobert
⁠Derrick White (By far your best defender)
⁠Ausar Thompson
⁠Evan Mobley
⁠Dyson Daniels
⁠Draymond Green
⁠OG Anunoby
⁠Amen Thompson
⁠Jalen Williams
⁠Isaiah Hartenstein
⁠Lu Dort
⁠Kawhi Leonard

Did you think that would be hard?

Edit: Completely forgot about some super obvious names lol

Chet Holmgren
Alex Caruso
Aaron Gordon
Mitchell Robinson
Robert Williams
Jarrett Allen
Jaden McDaniels
Scottier Barney
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Anthony Davis
Donovan Clingan

Brovenkar | Celtics

26 | 6 hours ago

Still think he should’ve gotten finals MVP. His playmaking and defense were phenomenal in the finals and a huge reason why it looked like they were bullying a JV team.

brewin91 | Celtics

29 | 6 hours ago

He was 100% the FMVP that year. Love JB but JT was robbed.

Bouldershoulders12 | Celtics

17 | 5 hours ago

I mean voting was super close. He led the team in all major categories despite his shooting slump.

wembys | Spurs

9 | 5 hours ago

Deadass only lost the FMVP because ppl thought he was corny

NitroXYZ | UTA

34 | 6 hours ago

Exactly, the cool thing about Tatum’s trash shooting games is he basically becomes the greatest role player of alltime. Like a supercharged Derrick White with less defence but better playmaking.

Alternative-Farmer98

29 | 6 hours ago

Yeah frankly I still to this day I think he should have been the MVP of the finals. He’s shooting was terrible but he was basically perfect outside of the shooting. Let me technically I think the vote was pretty close so it’s not like the craziest opinion. I don’t think it’s an injustice that Brown won over him but if I had to vote I would have taken Tatum

instantur | Celtics

12 | 6 hours ago

Shooting splits are overvalued and Derrick White is proof of that. He has been super hit or miss shooting wise yet his advanced stats are just as good.

Bouldershoulders12 | Celtics

22 | 6 hours ago

I’d argue more versatile defense than White because of his size he can switch on to 1-4. As good as white is he’s only 6’4 . Tatum is 6’9 with a 7’0 wingspan

SilentRanger42 | Celtics

6 | 5 hours ago

White is more of a 1-3.5 because bigger 4s can overpower him

randotd152

9 | 5 hours ago

Tatum’s defense is better than White. They’re very different but if you had to choose one, the stuff Tatum does is more valuable.

SilentRanger42 | Celtics

4 | 5 hours ago

I’d say he’s a better defender because of his length/versatility. White is a better defender against smaller guys but he can’t really match up with bigger forwards like Tatum can.

Debits_equals_credit

31 | 6 hours ago

People continually sleep on his defense as well

Kyler1313

18 | 6 hours ago

He hasn’t really been the weak side helper he was before his injury yet, really hasn’t shown that burst as a shot blocker. But his perimeter defense and lateral quickness still look great and with his length makes him such a versatile defender.

randotd152

14 | 6 hours ago

He’s never been an aggressive shot blocker. Quite frankly it’s usually bad defense to aggressively go for blocks when you’re not 7’2. Tatum just takes what comes from being in position.

Overall his defense has been terrific.

Kyler1313

10 | 5 hours ago

He’s always averaged between 0.5-0.9 blocks a game right now he is averaging 0.2 blocks per game.

Even though he isn’t a aggressive shot blocker that racks up blocks his advanced rim protection stats are usually pretty good. This year he has either not gone for some blocks or is a step late to get there. He definitely has been worse at that since his return. But it’s fine because it isn’t his only value as a defender.

jkwah | Celtics

2 | 5 hours ago

Might also partly be a product of the Celtics defensive philosophy. They simply don’t allow shots by the rim and lead the league in lowest percentage of opponent shots attempted within 3ft.

SilentRanger42 | Celtics

6 | 5 hours ago

it’s usually bad defense to aggressively go for blocks when you’re not 7’2

or Derrick White

Entire-Click2280

10 | 6 hours ago

We already have their previous finals run as evidence of this. Despite his offensive struggles, he was still arguably their most important player.

SilentRanger42 | Celtics

1 | 5 hours ago

You clearly didn’t listen to commentary during the 2024 finals…

Beetle919 | Hornets

88 | 6 hours ago

These old heads project themselves onto the newer generation, Tatum is a team player something that’s difficult for TMac to understand.

goofygoober2 | Celtics

32 | 5 hours ago

Just like Melo trying to advise Tatum on sacrifice it all comes across as hollow

SilentRanger42 | Celtics

8 | 5 hours ago

No Celtic has ever been the season scoring leader but we have the most rings. Selfish play doesn’t typically lead to chips unless you’re literally Michael Jordan.

Edit: I looked it up and the scoring leader has won the NBA Finals 13 times and 6 of those were Jordan. The others were George Mikan (1949 and 1950), Bob Petit (1958), Lew Alcindor (1971), Shaq (2000), Steph (2016), and SGA (2025)

LarBrd33

2 | 2 hours ago

It was also just incredibly lazy. They picked the one game they lost and acted like it wasn’t working. They are 11-2 with Tatum and one of those losses was a spurs game they were winning until brown got ejected. He’s now been involved in 21% of their wins this season.

Bouldershoulders12 | Celtics

48 | 6 hours ago

25/12/8 and those aren’t even per 36 minutes .

NitroXYZ | UTA

44 | 6 hours ago

What would Tracy McGrady know about winning basketball?

Dude shot like 41% from the field to win a scoring title on a 20 win team, and when asked about it’s significance he said “I had to do it or my reputation would go down”

Consistently failed horrendously with playoff chokes. Completely overrated by “hoopers”

instantur | Celtics

14 | 6 hours ago

Jayson Tatum is what TMac thinks he was

TheInfinityOfThought | Celtics

6 | 5 hours ago

I was there for his whole career and he’s the most overrated “hall of famer” ever.

majidLuv | Thunder

40 | 6 hours ago

TMac is a bum anyways, he has some of the worst takes ever as an NBA ‘analyst’

TheInfinityOfThought | Celtics

15 | 6 hours ago

What do you expect from a “superstar” that never made it out of the first round?

lactigger619 | Clippers

3 | 3 hours ago

TMac is like the Zach Lavine of that generation.

Furd_Terguson1 | Knicks

1 | 2 hours ago

He was way better than Zach lol cmon now that’s crazy.

OkDonut4987 | Magic

1 | 4 hours ago

Ouch 🤒🤕😞

ZeroWaits | Celtics

8 | 6 hours ago

That whole desk is awful except Maria

Mg29reaper | Celtics

33 | 6 hours ago

Why is he putting up jokic numbers lol.

sanjit8103 | Nuggets

16 | 4 hours ago

Imagine tearing your Achilles and you come back and become slightly lesser Jokic with far better defense. What an anomalous development lmao.

Legal-Maize-2784 | Clippers

21 | 6 hours ago

T-Mac please don’t turn into another Perkins. You were one of my favorite players.

ghostninja33 | Knicks

17 | 5 hours ago

Tatum is a better player than Tmac ever was. Don’t be fooled by his volume stats vs. Tatum. Tatum is an elite defender, a much better playmaker, and a much better rebounder.

FoundationSmooth9777

14 | 6 hours ago

Tatum could be shooting 30% and he’s not hurting the team lol

samhit_n | Lakers

11 | 6 hours ago

I feel like everything that could go wrong has gone wrong for the Lakers. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Finals end up being Thunder vs. Celtics.

rthtoreddit | Celtics

8 | 4 hours ago

Hate that the Lakers may not be at full strength, but the West this season has undeniably been a two team race. Even at full strength, LA is not beating either of those two.

heartofporn

2 | 3 hours ago

Extremely sad about Doncic’s hamstring, he is a playoff demon

go-vols-28 | Celtics

9 | 6 hours ago

I had a fight with a fellow Celtic before the season. I said that as long as the Celtics were in the playoff hunt after the all star break that Tatum would play (result, 2nd in the east I believe, definitely in the hunt). Well, ended up winning that bet, and now we’re a legit contender team, despite this being a “rebuild” year.

99LedBalloons | Timberwolves

9 | 5 hours ago

I don’t know why McGrady said that. It was like one of his first games back, he looked like a guy trying to get back into game shape. He was fine.

x_TDeck_x | Spurs

5 | 5 hours ago

Any time a player has an extended break, I feel like people forget what he’s actually like and say things that are a little wild

I wonder if it’ll happen when Haliburton comes back too

Flat-Age-007

5 | 6 hours ago

I think Celtics were always a legitimate threat regardless. With Tatum they become even more dangerous!

fredinNH | Celtics

2 | 4 hours ago

We went from dangerous dark horse to favorite in the east

AKAkorm

5 | 5 hours ago

Notable winner Tracy McGrady.

Alternative-Farmer98

2 | 6 hours ago

Right but tl T-Mac was actually doing his job which was to say something outrageous to get people mad. In that sense mission accomplished I guess.

NothingHead8233 | Celtics

3 | 6 hours ago

10000% correct lol

axecalibur | CHI

3 | 5 hours ago

Tracy McGrady is not know for his intelligence.

poeope | BOS

2 | 6 hours ago

Yeah I’m not getting this one.

693275001

2 | 5 hours ago

He’s not 100% back yet but who in their right minds could think he hurts the team

TheMartian2k14 | Warriors

2 | 4 hours ago

I’d love to see a Celtics/Thunder Finals.

Old_Supermarket_7575 | Thunder

2 | 3 hours ago

Rehabbing Tatum is still better than like 90% of the NBA

yellowcats | Celtics

1 | 6 hours ago

talking heads are going in front of the camera so they are forced into talking points… you are incentivized to come up with something based on what you see pretty quickly….

i dont care if you a HOF or the ice cream man, you can’t really just say “oh well lets see what happens” cuz thats not fun and ur producers/bosses arent gonna be pleased and u want to please them so u say shit like this based on 1 game of 82 lol

phantombrick22 | Magic

1 | 4 hours ago

Known winner Tracy McGrady

ForgivenessIsNice

1 | 4 hours ago

What’s the true shooting? Don’t care about splits

bjorn_ironside_94

1 | 4 hours ago

Don’t take Tmac’s comments seriously, he says dumb and jealous takes now and then.

ExcellentJuice4729

1 | 4 hours ago

T Mac has some Perkins level bad takes. Man should just stick to reminiscing with Vince on their podcast.

Minimum_Inevitable58

1 | 2 hours ago

This ???

twovles31

0 | 6 hours ago

Two things can be true, he was hurting the team in that game. He’s no longer hurting the team and playing well now.

TwoTalentedBastidz | Lakers

-2 | 4 hours ago

44 percent from the field is awful

ActivelySleeping

-9 | 5 hours ago

This does not make McGrady wrong. You would need to show his play before McGrady said this was not hurting the team.

holyyguava | Hornets

8 | 5 hours ago

You would need to watch to see that he clearly wasn’t hurting the team. He was just coming back from the most serious injury and was being worked into a new team he hadn’t played with. He’s one of the most unselfish players, especially as a superstar, and he does everything on the floor. They can only be better with him.

ActivelySleeping

-3 | 5 hours ago

I understand that is true and even if he was hurting the team at the time, you take it for the pay-off later.

You can’t use stuff that has not happened yet to prove someone wrong, though.

holyyguava | Hornets

4 | 5 hours ago

6-2 with him when Tmac said that lol. Even when Tatum isn’t scoring well he is doing everything else. Point Tatum never gets enough credit. Teams have bad nights and the easiest thing for people to do is blame Tatum. Surface level stuff imo

ActivelySleeping

-1 | 4 hours ago

Team results also do not prove a player is playing well. The other points are more of a valid argument.

DaJuggerHobbit | Hawks

-12 | 6 hours ago

I mean, he was costing his team at that point.

Which is to be expected; dude was rushing back from a severe injury. Takes time to get back into basketball shape and find your rhythm.

The notion that “early bad play is bad” was more important than longterm success is the silly part. This Celtics squad with a healthy, confident, in stride Tatum should scare everyone.

NothingHead8233 | Celtics

8 | 5 hours ago

They were 6-2 with him and had a +11 net rating when he was on the floor. They had a bad game and everyone overreacted.

hairforce_1

-15 | 6 hours ago

Fuck off TMac is goated. Two year peak better than Kobe

1GeorgeMarcus2MJ8LBJ | Rockets

-23 | 6 hours ago

“back when tatum was playing like ass, Tracy said Tatum is playing like ass. Since then, he hasn’t played like ass”

So Celtics fans should all be thanking T Mac for fixing Tatum.

sssSnakebite | Celtics

8 | 6 hours ago

T Mac convinced JB to stay on the Celtics then we ended up winning a championship.

Omnisyntax | Celtics

2 | 6 hours ago

Me when I flame my team mates in video games and then they start playing good /s

On March 22nd, The Celtics lost to the Wolves. Tracy McGrady said Tatum was hurting the team. Since then, Jayson Tatum is averaging 25⁄11.6⁄8 on 44/40/79. The team is 5-0 when he plays, with a 133 ORTG when he’s on the floor.

On March 22nd, The Celtics lost to the Wolves. Tracy McGrady said Tatum was hurting the team. Since then, Jayson Tatum is averaging ²⁵⁄₁₁.⁶⁄₈ on 44/40/79. The team is 5-0 when he plays, with a 133 ORTG when he’s on the floor.