Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum vacationed in the Cayman Islands to celebrate Father’s Day and take a break from basketball just days after losing the 2022 NBA Finals.
Despite being so far from Boston and wearing swim trunks instead of basketball shorts, he really got away when a well-meaning NBA fan reminded him he’d watched a failed title fight.
“So I just wanted to relax. It’s obvious the season is long,” Tatum told Andscape at the recent NBA season promotional shoot in Burbank, California. Spend it then stay away. The final was very fresh for me.
“And every time we left the room someone would look at me and say, ‘Oh man, I wish you had…’ ‘Good luck next year.’ And it is still said today. But it was only three or four days after that, so it was very fresh. ”
A three-time NBA All-Star, he averaged 25 points, 8.3 rebounds and 5.6 assists against the Miami Heat and was named 2022 Larry Bird Eastern Conference Finals MVP. Tatum also averaged 26.9 points, 8 rebounds and 4.4 assists during the regular season, so I was depressed during the most important period.
“It was just a learning experience and a lesson learned,” said Tatum, 24. “Once I get to that point, maybe next time I’ll do something different. Of course, it’s hard to learn a lesson that way, but that’s it…
“It just drives you. It motivates you to come back to that point.”
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Tatum was found to have played with a right shoulder injury in the 2022 NBA Finals, and in August, Bleacher Reported reported that Taylor Lukes was diagnosed with a small, undisplaced bone fragment in his wrist that had been present and diagnosed for two months became an NBA injury. He announced he was cured when he advanced to the final. However, it’s easy to feel pain when you get hit. Tatum told Andscape that his injured wrist will not require off-season surgery.
“It affected me, but that’s why I didn’t talk about it,” Tatum told Andscape. [off the court] Because when I’m there and you play, you play too. So if you can’t play, you can’t play. It was June, so everyone was working on something. I wasn’t the only one who got hit.
“[Celtics center] rob [Williams] I almost played with one foot and I know the Warriors had a man [with] Injuries are not an excuse. It was just reality. ”
Williams underwent left knee surgery on September 23 and is expected to be out for four to six weeks. The Celtics also lost rookie forward Danilo Gallinari to a cruciate ligament tear in his left knee while playing for Italy during a FIBA World Cup qualifier in August. There is no timetable for Gallinari’s return.
The offseason had some injury-related challenges for Tatum and the Celtics, but the biggest challenge for the reigning Eastern Conference champions is expected to be the suspension of head coach Ime Udoka.
Udoka was suspended for the 2022-23 NBA season last month after an investigation by an independent law firm uncovered multiple violations of team policy. Sources previously told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that Udoka was in a close relationship with a female franchise associate who has since been taken over by Celtics assistant coach Joe Mazura.
Tatum said on Media Day last week that no one at the Celtics told him Udoka was under investigation. The St. Louis native also said Udoka’s news had “a lot to digest” and he first heard it on Twitter.
“That’s difficult to answer because I think for many reasons whether things have been handled properly or not. I don’t know all the details. I don’t know,” Tatum said.
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As for the roster, the Celtics have addressed point guard positioning and turnover issues that plagued the 2022 NBA Finals with the acquisition of veteran Malcolm Brogdon. Brogdon averaged 19.1 points, 5.9 assists and 5.1 rebounds for the Indiana Pacers last season. Boston picked 2022 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart as a point guard last season.
In honor of her success, Brogdon told Media Day that he would accept any role in Boston, and I’m overjoyed to be able to do so.
“Brogdon brings a level of toughness and a good point guard. Obviously he could shoot at it and defend it as well. I did it.”
The Tatum and Celtics franchises and fan bases are also experiencing a heartbreaking season following the death of legend Bill Russell.
The five-time NBA MVP died on July 31 at the age of 88. Russell was a Celtics star who won 11 championships from 1956-59. The NBA’s first black head coach was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a player and coach. Russell was also a prominent civil rights activist, being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2011. Season.
“I met him a few times but I knew him better when I came into the league. Being with the Celtics is just my age and how much younger I am than I was before,” Tatum told Andscape. “But I understand what he meant to our country and the game of basketball. I’m glad to have you.”
Tatum is in his sixth season in the NBA, is the face of the Celtics, won gold with Team USA at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and spent the off-season alongside rap icon Jay-Z and celebrity comedian Kevin Hart in the social media with him. He is in a relationship with R&B star Ella Mai.
Still, Tatum credits his attendance at the NBA Finals with becoming popular around the world, from Boston to the Cayman Islands.
“If I could easily see it, it’s magnified a thousand times since I played in the finals because it’s the finals,” Tatum said. “Everyone, even if you don’t watch the regular season, watch the finals, [read] It was all the stories, the headlines and the two teams only we played against. ”
