Jayson Tatum placed his name between two legends of the NBA during the classification of the Boston Celtics for the Finals of the American league. Wearing a wristband in the colors of the Los Angeles Lakers and the ’24’ of his idol Kobe Bryantsigned a magnificent performance that allowed those in green to beat the Miami Heat 96-100 in the seventh game of their tie.
The 24-year-old forward was chosen after the final honk as the first recipient of the Larry Bird MVP award of the Eastern Conference Finals. With 24.8 points, 8 rebounds and 5.5 assists on average in the tie, Tatum placed his name among the legends of the two most successful franchises in history, LA and Boston.
Tatum and Oladipo exchange words after Boston win
“It’s a great honour, it’s the fourth time the group has come here and my third”, commented on the recognition received, although focusing more on collective merit. “We have gotten out of step, and not many gave a penny for us. I’m proud. We’ve taken the hard road, but it’s worked.”
Asked about his wristband, Tatum had words of remembrance for Bryant: “In a seventh game … He means a lot to me. I wanted to show my appreciation for him in the biggest game of my career so far.”
Tatum finished Game 7 with 26 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists in 46 minutes of playscoring a couple of important baskets in the decisive moments and achieving a couple of meritorious defensive actions on Jimmy Butlerhis nemesis throughout the tie.
Asked about Boston’s reaction this season, Tatum replied that the criticism and rumors of separation served to unite the group and encourage their search for solutions to play better together: “Everything helped. They said we should split up as a group, that me and Jaylen Brown couldn’t play together. That motivated us to find solutions without running away. We’ll be here for a while, and attempts to part It’s brought us closer as a group.”
Against the Golden State Warriors, in the NBA Finals that will start at dawn from Thursday to Friday in Spain, Tatum will aspire to achieve the eighteenth ring for Boston, who would once again surpass the Lakers in titles if they managed to lift the Larry O’Brien trophy. He will soon be hoping to play his next big match in his short but successful run in American competition to definitely make a name for himself among the legends.
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