Jayson Tatum He is coming off the best year of his young career, but falling two wins from the ring left him hungry enough to take another step forward.
“I didn’t feel like talking to anyone. He didn’t feel like being bothered. It’s hard to explain if you’ve never been in that situation, but losing a championship was fucking miserable.” he told Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix in a report before the start of the course.
At the team level, Tatum has already been in the Eastern Conference Finals three times in five seasons, and finally overcame that obstacle to reach the last step that was missing the previous year. On an individual level, the forward has already been 3-time All-Star and 2-time All-NBA.
At 24 years old, with a resume like that, there are only two things left to achieve: a ring and an MVP. And Tatum wants both in this campaign.
The Celtics entered the 2022-2023 season as title favorites, while their star wants to earn the honor of being considered the best player in the league.
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How Jayson Tatum has become an MVP candidate
Through the first 18 games of the season, Boston has the best record in the NBA and Tatum has an average of 30.6 points per night on true shooting percentage (true shooting) of 62.1%, which are personal highs.
Tatum entered offseason with a hyperfocus on being stronger on the ball, finishing with contact at the rim and getting to the free throw line more often. Reinforcing those weaknesses has seen him go from being an elite scorer to one that’s nearly unstoppable.
He is averaging career-highs in points in the paint (10.8) and free throw attempts (8.8) while scoring with best efficiency in the restricted area and at the rim.
| Season | dots in paint | free throws attempted | Hit in the restricted area | success in painting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-2018 | 5,0 | 3,2 | 58,9 | 27,8 |
| 2018-2019 | 6,3 | 2,9 | 63,1 | 37,8 |
| 2019-2020 | 8,6 | 4,7 | 59,3 | 37,6 |
| 2020-2021 | 9,9 | 5,3 | 68,1 | 38,8 |
| 2021-2022 | 10,1 | 6,2 | 68,0 | 40,3 |
| 2022-2023 | 10,6 | 8,5 | 75,0 | 40,4 |
The forward has realized how physically imposing he can be in his divisions, but his growth in these areas is far from simply using his body to go to hoops. Before this season, Tatum had a history of splitting without much planning or reading, settling for bad shots or forcing unnecessary action.
This year he has been much more patient with his forays, playing at a better pace and controlling the body to finish in the basket.
His handling looks quicker and firmer, adding even more movement to his game to create needed separation on jump shots or dribbling his opponent to the rim.
And he’s done a terrific job of keeping opposing defenses on the ball for his next move.
In fact, Tatum has added to his game a floater more than interesting:
His maturation as a scorer has been remarkable this season, but his improvement on the defensive end has been just as impressive. Pairing up with Kevin Durant in the First Round of the Playoffs 2022 was his letter of introduction as an elite defender, but Tatum has become one of the biggest threats on both sides of the NBA today.
The Celtics player has an average of 1.2 caps per nighta career-high, and his 23 total blocks are on par with some of the league’s best rim protectors like Jarrett Allen (20), Joel Embiid (21), Rudy Gobert (22) and Evan Mobley (26). ).
He’s already dropped several crucial defensive sequences late in games this season, and while the Celtics’ defense hasn’t been as impressive as it was last year (with Robert Williams III yet to debut), Tatum has taken on a lot more responsibility by pair up with rival stars like Luka Doncic, DeMar Derozan o CJ McCollum.
From the moment his outstanding rookie season concluded, it was clear that Tatum had the potential to be one of the best players in the NBA at some point. He began to earn the respect of the league last postseason, but a poor showing in the Finals seemed to have brought him down.
He used that failure as fuel during the offseason and as a catalyst for the best team in the league this season, Tatum has established himself as the great candidate for the MVP while the Celtics they look for the 18th ring.
The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of the NBA or its organizations.
