Getty Jayson Tatum
After the Boston Celtics defeated the Brooklyn Nets on November 4, Jayson Tatum discovered he was the youngest player in franchise history to score 10,000 points during his postgame interview with NBC Sports Boston’s Abby Chin. Tatum gave his honest thoughts on accomplishing such a feat.
“That’s cool. I’ve been blessed to be at a great franchise… hopefully I got a lot more to go.”
@tvabby caught up with @jaytatum0 after he became the youngest Celtic in history to reach 10k career points in the Celtics’ win over the Nets
“That’s special. That’s cool. I’ve just been blessed to be at a great franchise. I’ve had some great teammates (and) some great coaches that have contributed to helping me get 10,000 points. Hopefully, I got a lot more to go and got a lot more games to win,” Tatum said, per NBC Sports Boston’s X account.
Tatum then expressed how honored he was to be the youngest Celtic to reach 10,000 points via his X account.
Taylor Snow of Celtics.com posted on his X account that Tatum is also the 10th-youngest NBA player to reach 10,000 points.
Jayson Tatum’s the 10th-youngest player in NBA history to reach 10,000 PTS
1. LeBron: 23y, 59d
2. KD: 24y, 33d
3. Kobe: 24y, 194d
4. Melo: 24y, 251d
5. T-Mac: 24y, 272d
6. Giannis: 25y, 45d
7. D-Book: 25y, 60d
8. Dwight Howard: 25y, 95d
9. Bob McAdoo: 25y, 137d
10. JT: 25y, 246d
Add this to the many accomplishments Tatum has had on his resume since being drafted by the Celtics in 2017. He probably would have reached the milestone sooner had the Celtics not built talented teams around him since his NBA career started. Tatum doesn’t sound too broken up about it, as his focus is winning more games.
Jayson Tatum Didn’t Want Celtics to Draft Him
During his postgame press conference, Jayson Tatum explained why he didn’t want to play for the Celtics back when they drafted him in 2017.
“First of all, I didn’t even want to come because I didn’t think I was going to play,” Tatum said, per NBC Sports Boston. “They had Gordon (Hayward), Jaylen Brown, Isaiah Thomas, and (Marcus) Smart, and I didn’t think I was good enough to be on that team. So, it didn’t even cross my mind how to close a game or how to finish, I was just more concerned about getting in the game and starting.”
Coming into the NBA, Tatum was not the talk of town when the Celtics came up. In 2017, the Celtics signed Hayward and traded for Kyrie Irving, two established NBA stars. After Hayward suffered a leg injury on opening night, Tatum more or less replaced what Hayward would have brought to the table.
Since then, Tatum has grown into becoming one of the Celtics’ biggest stars in franchise history. An impressive feat knowing how many Hall-of-Famers have played for them.
What 10k points looks like 😤
Al Horford Congratulates Jayson Tatum
After the Celtics beat the Nets, Al Horford congratulated Tatum on his accomplishment via his X account.
The admiration between the two is mutual, as Tatum shouted out Horford during his postgame interview with Chin.
“I love Al. Like, that’s one of my favorite teammates of all time. He’s a big reason for my personal success, for everybody’s success, and the ultimate team guy. And we’re just really lucky to have him.”
Horford has played with Tatum for all but two of the seven NBA seasons Tatum has played. In the time the two have played together, they’ve gone on multiple extensive playoff runs. That includes going on three Eastern Conference Finals runs and one NBA Finals run.