In 2017, Jayston Tatum was a 2017 ACC All-Freshman Team member and made third team all-ACC. However, Tatum only played for Duke in Durham, North Carolina, for one season, where he averaged seventeen points a game, seven rebounds, two assists, a steal, and a block a game. The Missouri native’s phenomenal time at Durham was so impressive that the Boston Celtics drafted him in the first round of the NBA draft, using the third overall pick to draft Tatum. Since then, Tatum’s been a four-time all-star, an all-star game MVP, and, most importantly, an Eastern Conference Championship winner. Unfortunately, the Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown-led Celtics lost to the Warriors in the NBA Finals last year.
Tatum has been one of the best players in the league since drafted by the Celtics and is only getting better at twenty-five. The Boston Celtics recently beat the Atlanta Hawks in six games to advance to the Eastern Conference Semifinals and are currently playing the Joel Embiid-led Philadelphia 76ers in hopes of going to the Eastern Conference Finals. The series is tied at one game apiece for the 76ers and the Celtics. However, many are saying it’s no thanks to Tatum. Instead, many say Tatum had a poor performance by his standards by putting up seven rebounds, seven points, and three assists in nineteen minutes played. This is an unfair criticism as it was a dominant team win for the Celtics, with all starting and all bench players contributing what was necessary to secure a dominant win against the Joel Embiid-led 76ers, who have the league MVP in Embiid. The former Duke Blue Devil is used to unfair criticism and won’t be fazed by it as the Celtics are poised to make a deep run this postseason. The other takeaway from this story is that basketball in North Carolina will continue to flourish in Chapel Hill and Durham thanks to players like Tatum, who are as hard-working as they are talented.
