Jayson Tatum must seize the moment against the Brooklyn Nets

Jayson Tatum. The 24-year-old superstar who’s been around for what sometimes feels like a decade.

And that’s not at all a knock on the Boston Celtics forward, but rather a compliment. Tatum has played relevant basketball in every season of his career so far. In just a few years, we’ve already all become so familiar with Tatum’s smooth, rhythmic, bucket-getting game. Right from the get-go, Tatum has performed on the biggest stage, and under the brightest lights, for all of us to see.

Jayson Tatum must seize the moment against the Brooklyn Nets

He went to toe-toe against LeBron James in Game 7 of the Conference Finals in just his rookie year. Tatum even dunked on The King. A moment that Tatum claimed, ‘changed his life.’

In an appearance on the ‘Old Man and the Three’ podcast in February, Tatum elaborated:

"‘I was fully aware of what I had just done. I remember as soon as the game ended, I had talked to Bron for like a minute. In that moment, I had realized what I had just done, how close we were, and that was kind of like alright, I’m going to be pretty good for a while.’"

In his rookie year, Tatum put the world on notice that he and his Celtics would be a force to be reckoned with for years to come. In their three postseasons since, Boston added a Conference Finals birth in 2020 – but have also lost in the first round twice.

Tatum has tasted playoff success to a certain degree, but he’s yet to reach the pinnacle. At 24 years of age, it’s time. With how Boston ended the regular season – playing arguably the best basketball in the association – there is no better opportunity than now for Tatum and his Celtics to make a legitimate run at the title.

Boston has been the hottest team in the NBA since the turn of the year. They went from 11th place in the Eastern Conference all the way to the two seed in the playoffs. Their reward, however? A first-round series against the Brooklyn Nets spearheaded by Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. The same team that sent them packing in five games in last season’s first round.

Yet, this year’s Celtics team is different. They have an identity. Boston’s defense has made them a legitimate contender. Something that wasn’t in the equation a year ago.

Last season, Tatum put an injury-riddled Celtics team on his back in the latter stages of the campaign. He established himself as a leading small forward in the league through a series of jaw-dropping scoring displays.

Tatum had a 50-point performance against the Wizards in the play-in game and hung another 50-piece on the head of the Brooklyn Nets in the playoffs. In total, he had four 50-point games last season. A feat that even the great Larry Bird never achieved in Celtics green. Bird scored 50 points four times in his whole career (in the regular season).

Tatum has since added to his repertoire of 50-point outings with two more this season. Most notably, he had a 54-point explosion against – you guessed it – the Brooklyn Nets; his opponents come Sunday, as the Celtics kick off their playoff campaign.

It’s been a stellar year for the Boston forward. With career-high averages of 26.9 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game, Tatum is set to beat out Durant for First-Team All-NBA this season. Though when the ball is tipped on Sunday, Durant, being one of the premier forwards in league history, will be sure to have his say as well.

Yet, Tatum and the Celtics shouldn’t want it any other way. This has been his path ever since he dunked on James as a rookie and announced himself to the world.

Boston is favored in the series. It’s a matchup against a former teammate in Irving, Durant, the man who holds the crown at his position, and the team that sent him home last spring. The stage is set. Jayson Tatum must seize his moment.