Jayson Tatum missing out on the Finals MVP award to teammate Jaylen Brown and warming the bench for Team USA at the Paris Olympics took the sheen off an impressive year for the Celtics forward. Some fans, analysts, and former players believe those setbacks will fuel him to seek vengeance in the upcoming campaign. However, according to his trainer, this couldn’t be further from the truth.
According to Drew Hanlen, the superstar has a completely different mindset. In an interview with ESPN, he explained that Tatum is pitting his resume against Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Stephen Curry’s CV at the same age as he is and is content with what he has achieved so far. He said,
“I think a lot of people are like, ‘Oh, he’s out for revenge… I don’t think Jayson looks at it like that. He’s like, ‘Compare my résumé at 27 to Michael Jordan, who never won one at 27. Compare it to LeBron, who had won one. Compare it to Steph, who had one.”
The forward suggested the same during the Celtics’ Media Day earlier this week. He claimed he wasn’t looking to gain notoriety and was focused on winning and improving as a player. 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.”
Tatum isn’t keen on chasing individual accolades and Antonio Daniels believes it’s the perfect mindset.
Daniels claims Tatum shouldn’t chase individual accolades next season
In a telephonic interview with Sirius XM NBA Radio, the former Spurs star advised Tatum to ignore the noise surrounding his lack of individual awards. He suggested that the forward should continue focusing on being a team player and helping the Celtics repeat as champions. Daniels said,
“If I’m Jayson Tatum, I care less about averaging 30 points a game. I need to do what my team needs me to do to help put them back in the championship conversation again. My goal is to repeat, not to win MVP, but simply to repeat as champions. I think that should be the most important thing.”
The Celtics’ path to the title in the upcoming campaign will be a lot more arduous than last season. Several teams in the East, especially the Knicks and 76ers, have made reinforcements to their roster in a bid to dethrone Boston. For the franchise to defend their crown, they’ll need Tatum to continue playing as selflessly as he did last season.
