Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum was enjoying a career-season prior to the NBA shut down. The 22-year-old nabbed his first-ever All-Star game appearance in 2020 while averaging career-highs in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks.
However, according to Tatum, his pre-pandemic form was just the tip of the iceberg, as the forward has been putting in serious work during the league’s hiatus.
While speaking with media in Orlando, Tatum touched on his initiative to “take it up another level” in the NBA bubble, proclaiming he “can get better at everything.”
In the words of the Celtics’ twitter page, “Scary.”
Jayson Tatum after being asked what he worked on during the hiatus: “I can get better at everything. So I guess the answer is just trying to take it up another level.
Scary.
Tatum Eyeing NBA Title
The Celtics have been a darkhorse favorite amongst many to take home an NBA Title inside the Disney World bubble (more on this below). That sentiment goes well further than just hot takes from media outlets, but also within the Celtics organization itself.
Big-man, Enes Kanter believes Boston has “enough talent to beat every team on every floor.” Tatum appeared to echo his teammate’s opinion in a Zoom conference call with reporters following a workout over the weekend, via NBC Sports Boston.
I think that’s the mentality you should have. I’ve never been on a team in my life — whether it was high school or college or since I have been on the Celtics — where I didn’t think we should settle for like third place.
I always thought, that’s why we played, to be the last team standing, so I think automatically we have that mindset, and we have a realistic chance. We have the talent, the experience, the depth, and we compete with the best of them. We scrap, we play defense, and our mindset is to never give up. We have a lot of guys who have been through a lot with each other, been through a lot of battles over the last couple years, so we hold each other accountable, trust each other, and we’re going to fight ’til there’s zero on the clock.
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Colin Cowherd: Celtics “My Darkhorse to Win It’
FS1’s Colin Cowherd is all-in on the Celtics. The Herd host placed Boston “inside” his NBA Championship bubble, bumping a title favorite in the midst.
Lakers: Outside
Celtics: Inside
@ColinCowherd fills out his NBA Championship Bubble heading into Orlando:
This morning the Lakers are outside my championship bubble. Avery Bradley and Rondo are two situational players and they’re OUT.
Boston is my dark horse team to win it. Even if they lost a guy to COVID or an injury, they’re still in pretty good shape. They have 3 players averaging 20+, points which is a real thing. That’s an ALL-STAR, and if Gordon Hayward dropped 24 you wouldn’t be shocked. They were also 5-2 against the best teams in the East, Milwaukee and Toronto.
Kemba (Walker), (Jayson) Tatum and (Jaylen) Brown. And if Gordon Hayward drops 24 (points), you wouldn’t be shocked. They were also 5-2 against the best teams in the Eastern Conference. I think they’re a dark horse team to win it.
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Celtics’ Jayson Tatum Puts NBA on Notice with ‘Scary’ Proclamation