“Everybody don’t get the same treatment”: Jayson Tatum makes feelings known on ‘unfair’ title judgement compare to other stars
Now in his seventh NBA season, Jayson Tatum has cemented himself as one of the top stars in the game today. Despite all the success he's had thus far, his criticis are still loud. The emerging superstar recently shared his thoughts on the unfair treatment he feels he's faced at this stage of his career.
Since the Celtics have regularly been a top team in the Eastern Conference since Tatum arrived, expectations remain high. Now that he's proven he can play at an elite level, securing a title is the key thing critics want to see from him.
During a recent interview with The Athletic, Jayson Tatum opened up on the title-or-bust mentality people have placed at him. He feels he's treated differently compared to some of his peers in the same age range.
"It's a little unfair, because everybody don't get the same treatment," Tatum said. "I feel like even some guys older than me or the game age as me get looked at differently than I do. Fair or unfair, whatever it is, I think it's because we've had so much early success."
This season, Jayson Tatum finds himself in a prime position to add a championship to his resumé. The Boston Celtics have the league's best record at 43-12 and are among the biggest title threats with the postseason around the corner.
As for Tatum, he is posting averages of 27.1 points, 8.6 rebounds and 4.8 assists.
Jayson Tatum opens up on coming up short in NBA Finals
At the age of 23, Jayson Tatum came extremely close to securing the first championship of his career. After knocking off teams like the Brooklyn Nets and Miami Heat, the Boston Celtics found themselves in the NBA Finals.
The last team in Boston's way was Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors. In the end, the Celtics came just short of delivering the franchise another title. The Warriors managed to add another championship to their dynasty, winning the series in six games.
Earlier in the interview, Tatum talked about getting so close but falling short. After the finals loss, all he could think about was improvng his game to get hismelf and the Celtics back on that stage.
"The easiest way to say it is, I was devastated," Tatum said. "I got so close and didn't perform the way I wanted to, and we didn't win. At that time, besides my family, nothing else mattered but getting better and getting back to that point."
Tatum finished the series with averages of 21.5 PPG, 6.8 RPG and 7.0 APG. He shot 36.7% from the field and 45.5% from beyond the arc.
Seeing how the Celtics have performed this season, Tatum has chance to get back to the finals and get redemption for 2022.