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While talking with Taylor Rooks of Bleacher Report, Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum brought up the topic of what defines a superstar. While talking about what defines a superstar, Tatum brought up former Celtics all-star and current Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving up in the discussion.
“Everybody has a different definition of what a superstar is,” Tatum said. “Is Kyrie Irving a superstar?… I agree (he is), but is Damian Lillard a superstar?… There can be superstars, and then there are a few guys in the league right now that are all-time greats. There’s a difference between (Kevin Durant), LeBron and Dame. (Durant and James) are two of the 10, 12 players of all time. While Dame might not be a top 15 player of all time, he was in the NBA’s top 75.”
When Rooks asked Tatum if he was a superstar, he answered both honestly and humbly.
“I guess?” Tatum said, who then followed that up with another question. “Do I have the respect of the people I play against? Do they know what I’m capable of, and they got a game plan a certain way? If I’ve earned that respect of the guys I’ve got to compete against night in and night out, and they know what I bring to the table, then that’s all that really matters.”
Start at the 45-minute mark.
While talking to Rooks, Tatum also got candid about what it was like for him to lose in his first NBA Finals.
Tatum Admitted He Was Miserable Following Finals Loss
Tatum said that losing in the finals hurt him so much that it took him a while to get back to his normal routine.
“Those three or four days afterward, I was miserable,” Tatum said. “It took some time to kind of get out of that funk and kind of enjoy my life and being around my son and my family.”
Tatum also brought up that the vibe he may give people that he’s relaxed leads to them misunderstanding how he felt following his performance in the finals. He made it clear how down crushed he was that the Celtics lost.
“It’s just tough. Sometimes I feel like sometimes I come off so laid back that I don’t know if people don’t understand how much I invest into this game. How much I care how hard I work because I’m not like the loudest or may show everything. But it was just so tough because I literally gave everything that I had. To feel like I ran out, that I didn’t have anything left to give, and we were so close. I didn’t have an appetite. I didn’t want to talk to anybody. I didn’t want to go anywhere. I was just in my house for three or four days straight.
Tatum also disclosed to Rooks that he played in the postseason while dealing with an injury.
Tatum Disclosed His Wrist Injury
Tatum confessed that he had suffered a wrist injury during the regular season. While he was able to play on it, he dealt with much pain because he kept re-aggravating injury.
“I had a non-displaced fracture in my wrist, and it was small, but still. A non-displaced chip, so like I chipped the bone, but it didn’t leave the surface. It had shown that the bone had grown over it, so it healed, but I was still in pain because I kept getting hit or falling on it. So guess I played with somewhat of a fracture for two months.”
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