Jayson Tatum 'drops mic' while critiquing NBA media storylines about Boston Celtics' path to NBA trophy
Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum has heard all the noise surrounding the team's 2024 playoff run. Tatum and company are one win away from winning the 18th NBA championship in franchise history after taking Game 3 of the 2024 Finals against the Dallas Mavericks.
With their seemingly imminent victory in the Finals, the 2024 Celtics would be the second-best squad record-wise in franchise history (the 1896 Celtics finished with an 82-18 overall record), but Jayson Tatum had a blunt response to that possibility, calling out NBA media for their storylines about the Celtics this season.
"That would be really cool," Tatum responded before charging against the media. "But, you guys probably would say we didn't play anybody to get here, we'll have to do it against next year."
The C's had a relatively easy path to the Finals, dismantling the Miami Heat that eliminated them last year from the Eastern Conference finals, the Cleveland Cavaliers with no identity, and the inexperienced Indiana Pacers, respectively, to land in the biggest series.
If they complete the sweep against the Mavericks, they would finish the season with an 80-20 record after only losing two games throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs, one against the Heat and one against the Cavaliers.
Now they're close to making history and becoming the first Celtics championship team since the Big 3 reached the promised land in 2008.
Jayson Tatum joins LeBron James, Nikola Jokic with notable Finals stat line
Despite being unfairly criticized for not having spectacular scoring performances, Tatum has found new ways to impact games. However, in Game 3 of the Finals, the monster woke up and dropped 31 points to go along with six rebounds and five assists in the Celtics 106-99 win against the Mavericks.
With this performance, Tatum became the third player to average at least 20 points, seven rebounds and seven assists per game in the Finals. He joined the likes of LeBron James and Nikola Jokic.
While Jayson Tatum averages 21.6 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.1 assists in two trips to the Finals, the King has posted 28.4 ppg, 10.2 rpg and 7.8 apg in the Finals.
Jokic has recorded 30.2 ppg, 14.0 rpg and 7.2 apg in his lone trip to the biggest series of all.
The Celtics will try to finish the job tomorrow night and return home with the Larry O'Brien trophy. A 3-0 advantage is virtually impossible to lose and the C's look very close to landing their 18th NBA championship.