PHILADELPHIA — Last week, after the Boston Celtics’ final road game before the All-Star break, Jayson Tatum sat in front of his locker in Miami and debated the best player in his franchise’s history. Despite all the championships Bill Russell piled up, Tatum preached to those around him that Larry Bird deserved the title.
During the conversation, which also included some teammates, Tatum said it hurt him that back injuries cut short Bird’s career. Despite the issues, which hampered Bird late in his career and limited him to 13 NBA seasons, Tatum stressed that the three-time MVP did more than enough to cement himself as the greatest Celtics player of all time. While still icing his body after a win against the Miami Heat, Tatum expressed that belief adamantly to those within earshot.
What Tatum failed to say that night but made clear Thursday is that he is taking aim at Bird. After Tatum recorded his second triple-double of the season in a 124-104 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers, he shared his lofty ambitions. Tatum said he wants to be one of the game’s all-time greats. In Boston, he hopes to take the crown from Bird.
“I’m very accomplished at a young age, but the truth is I envision myself as one of those guys: the LeBrons, the Stephs, the KDs,” Tatum said. “I want the next generation to view me as that. Wearing a Celtics uniform comes with a lot of pride, and the best Celtic ever is Larry Bird. Even if I never reach that — maybe I do, maybe I don’t — if you aspire to chase that guy, it comes with a level of focus and motivation every single day to be the best you can.”
Tatum has never hidden his big dreams. Early in his Celtics tenure, his mother, Brandy Cole-Barnes, remembered that Tatum’s goals shifted the summer after his freshman year of high school. It was that early in life, after he had thrived on the USA men’s junior national team, that Tatum stopped thinking about simply reaching the NBA. Instead, before he could even secure a driver’s license, he started planning how to carve out a long career and become a perennial All-Star and potential Hall of Famer.
Tatum is aiming even higher now. LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant are basketball royalty. Bird is viewed as a divine being in New England. It’s bold to even announce a pursuit of such legends, but Tatum did so after racking up 15 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in his team’s first game back from the All-Star break. He first shared his chase of Bird shortly before the Celtics began training camp this season.
“I didn’t need any extra motivation coming into the season… The motivation came from not being satisfied. Larry Bird is the best Celtic to ever wear this uniform. That’s the guy that I’m chasing.”
—Jayson Tatum
(via @JaredSGreenberg)pic.twitter.com/xoae6IPBlO
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) September 25, 2024
Thursday, Tatum detailed further why he set his sights on Bird.
“I think you just realize at a certain point that you might be on a trajectory of whatever people want to call it — have a legendary career or an all-time great or whatever,” Tatum said. “And just, you see the impact that he had on the game of basketball and obviously with the Celtics, winning three championships, winning three MVPs in a row, which is incredible. You just suddenly start to see that, you know, you both scored 60 points in a game, and you start getting mentioned in (conversations about) the only other Celtics to do this. And then, obviously, once you win a championship, it’s like, all right, you can be in those rooms with the Celtics legends. But it doesn’t just stop at one. You’ve obviously gotta win multiple, and that’s what we’re trying to do. And I always wanted to be the best. He’s, in my opinion, the best Celtic ever. He did it the right way. And he’s a great guy to chase, in a sense.”
As Tatum acknowledged, he might never reach Bird’s status in Boston. Still, it’s not a laughable idea to try. With six All-Star Game appearances, four All-NBA team berths, two Olympic gold medals and an NBA championship already at age 26, he has packed his resume like few players his age have ever done before. He has scored the most playoff points ever for a player before his 27th birthday (Kobe Bryant and James are second and third on that list). With 68 postseason wins already, Tatum trails only Bryant, Tony Parker and Magic Johnson for the most ever through age 26. Tatum hasn’t finished higher than fourth in MVP voting but has landed on the All-NBA first team in three consecutive seasons. The Celtics have reached the Eastern Conference finals in five of his seven seasons with two trips to the finals.
Has Tatum benefited from significant help around him? Of course. But he has also done plenty to lift his teammates. Through 56 games, he leads the team in average points (26.8 per game), rebounds (8.7) and assists (5.7) while ranking second behind Jaylen Brown in steals (1.2). Though Tatum didn’t compile his usual scoring numbers Thursday, his well-rounded outing showcased the completeness of his game. Payton Pritchard said everything for Tatum came in the flow of the offense. Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said such performances are nothing new.
“The honest answer is he’s been doing this a long time,” Mazzulla said, “but people just take advantage of him and take it for granted. … So he’s been doing this for years, but he obviously has continued to get better. Where I think he’s grown is I don’t think he scored in his first stint. He came out at the 5 1/2-minute mark — he may have had 2 points. So he’s just not being defined by scoring. And he has an understanding of being patient with the game, knowing how to manipulate the game and knowing when there’s spots to have the game come to him. He gets just as much excitement when he makes a two-on-one read for the right pass to the corner as he does making a 3.”
Not many players have generated as much excitement with their passing as Bird did. Following his lead, his teams developed a beautiful unselfishness. Maybe that’s why Tatum said Bird is a great player to chase. He cared most about winning. He prioritized team play. He competed at all times. After meeting Bird at the All-Star Game in Indiana last year, Tatum called him “the ultimate Celtic.”
Though Tatum has carved out relationships with other Celtics greats, including Paul Pierce, he said he has met Bird only that one time. The two didn’t chat for long.
“He’s a lot taller than I thought, but I ran over to him, and I was like, ‘Man, it’s an honor to meet you,’” Tatum said. “And he was just like, ‘Likewise. I love watching you play.’ And (he was) happy for my success. So that was just a cool moment. Just one of the greatest players of all time acknowledging you, even if it’s for a brief moment. Just, as a young guy, it’s something that I’ll always be able to cherish.”
In Boston, it takes guts to verbalize a pursuit of Bird. Tatum must know the pressure he has put on himself by sharing his vision. In some ways, playing for the Celtics comes with a heavy weight. To live up to the history of the franchise. To fulfill the legacy of all the greats who have worn the green-and-white jerseys before. To win a championship, like so many teams in Boston have done, and then do it again.
Tatum knows how much commitment his goals will require.
“Just with the mindset of you can’t skip any steps,” Tatum said. “Apply that to last year when we won the championship. Obviously, in the back of our mind, the goal was to win, but what we did really well last year was we just tried to get a little bit better every single day. And I think our record showed that. I think our record in the playoffs represented that. We didn’t look past anybody; we took it one game at a time. So, how can I impact the game? How can I impact my teammates in a positive way where these guys appreciate the way I played and it’s reciprocated and we’re all out there for the same common goal?”
In Tatum’s eyes, no Celtics player has topped what Bird accomplished with the franchise.
So far.
“I’m far from a finished product, right?” Tatum said. “(I am) 26. I’ll be 27 in, like, 12 days. But I’ve made tremendous strides since day one, and I think one thing I’ve been good at is I never was complacent. I steal from guys in the league. I watch a lot of film. There’s a lot of things that I just want to continue to get better at. I think I still have a long way to go from being the best version of me. And I think that really excites me.”
(Photo: Bill Streicher / Imagn Images)
