One player who divides opinion is Jayson Tatum.
The Boston Celtics, led by Jayson Tatum, are now preparing for what they think would be a deep run in the NBA playoffs in 2024 and the team’s first championship since its founding 16 years ago in 2008. The Celtics concluded the season with 64 wins, which is by far the most in the league. Tatum had no trouble incorporating new teammates Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis into the mix while still performing at a level worthy of being named to the first team of the NBA.
The Celtics, and especially Tatum, have been criticized throughout the years for their tendency to lose games in the closing seconds during the playoffs. For example, during multiple scenarios in the 2023 playoffs, the Celtics collapsed miserably in crucial moments, a shortcoming that raised doubts about Tatum’s true clutchness.
One person who is hoping to reverse that narrative is famed NBA trainer Drew Hanlen, who recently broke down why the “Tatum isn’t clutch” narrative doesn’t have a whole lot of substance.
“If you look at Jayson over the last five years, I think he has one of the best clutch numbers in the NBA,” said Hanlen, per Mark Medina of Sportskeeda. “If you look back at some of the big moments in his career, you think of Game 6 against Milwaukee when they’re down 3-2 and he scores 46 against Giannis. He ends up having a great Game 7, and the Celtics end up winning that. In Game 6 (last year vs Sixers), he scored 16 points in the fourth quarter to come back and then scores 51 in Game 7 to send the Celtics to the next series. There are not many players in the world, if any, that I would want the ball in their hands at the end of the game more than Jayson.”
Is Jayson Tatum clutch?
The answer to that depends on how a person views the word “clutch.” As Hanlen described, Tatum does have more than a few big-time moments in his career when the pressure was on. However, many of the performances that Hanlen mentioned were high-pressure games but were not actually close down the stretch, which is where the word “clutch” truly comes into play.
Celtics fans have seen time and time again Tatum revert to isolation-heavy basketball in hunting for the last shot of a game, including twice this year in losses to the Atlanta Hawks as well as in a loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, when perhaps passing the ball to one of his four All-Star caliber teammates would have been a better option.
