Getty Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics.
Nick Wright has usually not been one to give the Boston Celtics credit where credit is due. When they win, he usually gives an excuse to discredit them. When they lose, he’ll be the first to let everyone know. While there are multiple theories as to why that is, the fact remains that Wright is typically among the Celtics’ biggest skeptics.
After the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Celtics in Game 1 of their playoff series, Wright went on to say that sweeping the Brooklyn Nets made Boston look better than they were and that Milwaukee was much better than Boston even without Khris Middleton.
I tried to warn everyone that the Nets being so comically overrated all year was having a warping effect on the rest of the playoff odds, and in turn making the *Celtics* a touch overrated for sweeping them.
Milwaukee is the far better team, even without Middleton.
The Celtics then went on to make Wright eat his words when they won the series in seven games. Knowing Wright’s MO, many thought he probably would have pointed to Middleton’s injury for how the Celtics came up victorious. Or that the Celtics were lucky that Giannis had a bad game at the worst time to have one. However, Wright did not go that route. Instead of coming up with excuses or diminishing Boston’s victory, he praised them for a job well done. He even singled out Jayson Tatum for his efforts in saving the Celtics’ season.
Congrats to the Celtics. They fought for the best possible seed all the way through, and it paid massive dividends.
Tatum delivered an all time Game 6, going toe to toe with one of the greatest to ever play, and then they played the ultimate team game in Game 7.
They earned it.
This is not something Celtics fans would expect to see from Wright. Especially regarding Tatum, who Wright has criticized a fair amount in the past, most recently after Tatum’s poor showing in Game 5 between the Bucks and the Celtics. That’s why it’s so surprising to see him give the team props for beating the reigning NBA champions.
Wright Previously Made Excuses for Boston’s Earlier Success
Part of the reason why Wright’s newfound praise for Boston is so surprising is that he never praised the team when they had the upper hand on Milwaukee before ultimately winning the series. In fact, when the Celtics were outplaying the Bucks, Wright attributed it to Milwaukee’s defense disappearing rather than Boston’s offense clicking.
The Celtics are 21-24 from the field in the last 2 4th quarters. The Bucks defense has just disappeared down the stretch of these games.
Earlier on May 7, 2022, Wright implied that, following the Bucks’ victory in Game 3, the only reason why the games at that point had been as close as they were was because of poor three-point shooting on Milwaukee’s end. He expected the Bucks to shoot better in Game 4, which was why he expected the Bucks to take a 3-1 lead going back to Boston at the time.
Milwaukee finishes this one off, and then had the inevitable 3-pointer explosion in Game 4, after going 9-43 in Games 2 & 3, and they’re up 3-1 heading back to Boston.
That did not happen, and the Bucks’ struggles from three continued, as they shot 27.9 percent from three as a team in the series. Not having Khris Middleton had something to do with that, but considering the Bucks shot 38 percent from three in their previous series against the Chicago Bulls – which included three games without Middleton – it’s not farfetched to suggest that Boston’s defense may have had something to do with it.
Wright Called Tatum an ‘Alleged Superstar’ Earlier in the Series
When things were getting tough for the Celtics in Game 4, Wright took no time to indirectly call Tatum out to step up when things weren’t going Boston’s way because, in his words, an “alleged superstar” would do just that.
Boston is absolutely shook right now. They need their best player to step up & calm them down, as superstars (or alleged superstars) are supposed to do.
Tatum’s 11 points in the fourth quarter pulled Boston ahead to tie the series, thus proving to Wright that Tatum absolutely could step up when the Celtics needed him to. Tatum’s play evidently left an impression on Wright, as the latter included Tatum in his “Club Superstar” that same day.
Massive, massive win (obviously) for Boston. Showed some real mettle down the stretch.
Also, with Club Superstar opening tomorrow at 9:15am on @FTFonFS1, Jayson Tatum might’ve salvaged his invite!
Tatum’s performance all-around may have potentially changed Wright’s perspective of him permanently. The only way to find out for sure is to see how Boston’s superstar handled their playoff run from here.