“My first Finals, I played against the Spurs, it's the same s**t, they took advantage of me not knowing much” - LeBron James defends Jayson Tatum for criticism he endured following Finals loss
LeBron James has lauded Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum for his spectacular performances in the 2021-22 season. Tatum helped the Celtics finish second in the Eastern Conference and led them to their first NBA Finals appearance since 2010. They lost 4-2 to the Golden State Warriors in the Finals.
Tatum copped some criticism for his performances in the Finals. The All-Star forward averaged 21.5 points on 36.7% shooting from the floor during the six-game series.
Good morning.
Steph is averaging more PPG (34.3) than Tatum is FG% (34.1) this Finals. https://t.co/4m74aRjQqq
On HBO's 'The Shop: Uninterrupted', LeBron James said he feels players receive unfair criticism from fans sitting at home and pundits on TV. He used Jayson Tatum's situation to elaborate his point.
"Listen usually the people saying sh*t is the ones that never walked into the arena. Theodore Roosevelt, 'The Man In The Arena' talks about it. Man, it's so easy to sh*t on people when you ... they never raise they blood pressure level or their heart rate above 60."
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: bit.ly/ShopS5E5“Jayson Tatum is a beast.” 💪🏾
@KingJames took issue with the criticism of @jaytatum0 during the playoffs and those who criticize while never risking anything themselves.
New episode of #TheShop out now.
📺: bit.ly/ShopS5E5 https://t.co/1adeuIOzDl
James added:
"Jayson Tatum is a beast. He didn't play to his standards. Like man, he did a hell of a season. And that guys's anyway 25 yet. He'll be back.
"And he got nothing to hang is hat on. My first Finals, I played against the Spurs. It's the same sh*t, and they took advantage of me not knowing much."
Tatum had a crazy playoff run:
— 1st in points
— 1st in assists
— ECF MVP
— Youngest ever with 600/100/100
— Beat KD, Giannis, Jimmy
— Dropped 46 down 3-2 at Bucks
— Dropped 13 assists in Finals debut
— Won 2 Game 7s
Head high. https://t.co/Sc5w4gSoHK
LeBron James compares his maiden Finals run to Jayson Tatum's
LeBron James didn't take too long to make his first NBA Finals appearance. He led the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Finals as a 22-year-old in his fourth season in the league. He did so without any star power on his team.
LeBron James took this starting lineup to the NBA Finals in 2007. http://t.co/20mJMXd2Nc
He led the Cavaliers to wins over the Washington Wizards, New Jersey Nets and Detroit Pistons. However, a young and inexperienced James couldn't impose his will on the mighty San Antonio Spurs.
He averaged 22 points, 7.0 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game, shooting only 35.6% from the field as the Cavs were swept by Tim Duncan's Spurs.
First career Finals
LeBron Tatum
22 PPG 22 PPG
7 RPG 7 RPG
7 APG 7 APG
36 FG% 37 FG% https://t.co/ErjLmZIyA4
Jayson Tatum had a much better supporting cast than LeBron James. However, he too went up against an experienced team with multiple titles under their belt. As such, it's unfair to criticize Tatum for falling short on the big stage when he was reponsible for taking the Celtics to the Finals in the first place.
Jayson Tatum was -36 tonight.
The worst +/- by any player in a Finals game in the play-by-play era. https://t.co/RaUrCh93vk
James became one of the best playoff performers of all time after getting swept by the Spurs in 2007. He made nine more NBA Finals appearances between 2011 and 2020. Tatum is only 25 years old and will hope to follow in James' footsteps.