Tag: Jayson Tatum

Even with NBA Finals heartbreak, Tatum has arrived

Life for someone in the public spectrum has never been harsher than it is right now, particularly for someone playing sports at the highest levels. With the evolution of social media, action on the playing field never goes without instant praise or criticism. If a star player on the verge of reaching superstar status has a performance that ranks with some of the best ever seen, people are quick to say this is the “coming out party,” or the moment he or she can be mentioned with the best in the world. Once the performance is below the expectations set on the “superstar,” those same people who were so quick to elevate the player are just as quick to say they haven’t arrived yet. This is the reality Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum faces, as he and his team attempts to heal from losing in the NBA Finals to the Golden State Warriors.

When the Celtics can get past the disappointment stage, they can look at the season as a success, especially considering the team was meddling around .500 in January. A lot of growth occurred in Boston, and the same can be said for Tatum, who constantly heard he and fellow teammate Jaylen Brown couldn’t make it work as a duo. During the playoff run to the finals, Tatum had many moments of brilliance, showing why some people would say he’s the best in a crop of young players knocking on the door of ultimate success. When the Celtics got there, it’s no secret Tatum struggled to duplicate those classic performances. Therefore, the hot take artists and members of the social media toilets were ready to tear him down, as if those positive thoughts were never said. Stephen Curry, who won the NBA Finals MVP, went through periods of slander. So did Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo (among other greats). The point is every player who makes meteoric rises to the top has to endure good and bad, and Tatum is no different.

To understand how quickly things can turn around on the praise or dump meter, it wasn’t too long ago when Tatum led the Celtics to a shocking (to some) sweep of the Brooklyn Nets in the first round. Fast forward to the conference semifinals, and Boston was down 3-2 to Antetokounmpo and the then-defending champion Milwaukee Bucks with Game 6 in Milwaukee. It was Tatum who scored 46 points to keep the Celtics’ season alive. Boston would go on to knock the Bucks out in Game 7 at home, and in another seventh game against the Miami Heat in the conference finals (also on the road) Tatum led the squad with 26 points and was named MVP of the series. There were many in the media who thought the Celtics would win the championship, and Tatum was on his way to being a bona fide, top-5 basketball player in the world. As we all know, Boston came up short, and guess who’s in the crosshairs for why they did.

Even with the subpar performance in the finals, what other player who is younger than 25-years-old would people rather have than Tatum? Luka Doncic? Ja Morant? Devin Booker? Trae Young? All of the players mentioned can score in spades, and scoring is the glamour stat in all sports. What puts Tatum over the top is his completeness as a player. Not only can he score with anyone in the league, he can affect the game in ways the others can not. Tatum is better on defense than any of the young players mentioned, and besides Booker (with the Phoenix Suns last season), the others haven’t been to the NBA Finals as of yet. It’s understood basketball is a team sport, but at the same time, there is more put on individual accolades than ever. So if we’re going to play that game, Tatum has the others beat in this regard.

While this is a society that judges people on the latest happenings, it’s important to consider the entire body of work. Could Tatum have played better in the finals? Of course. Could he have been more aggressive looking for his own offense at times? Absolutely, but to say Tatum is a disappointment is a bit harsh. All of the credit should go to Golden State’s defense for the struggles, but the willingness to take on double-teams and be a willing passer should not be overlooked when it comes overall growth. It can be easy to forget, but Tatum is only 24 years of age, and the Celtics have a young team around him that points to being competitive for years to come. Based off of the apparent rise during this year’s playoff run, Tatum has arrived, because only stars get the treatment in the public where they can shine, then fall flat before sustainability kicks in.

Bothersome trends that need to change in sports media

Over the years, a lot has transpired within the world of media. Depending on who is asked, the changes are looked at as a positive or negative, but either way, there’s no denying the foundation of journalism has been left for questioning from all directions. The days of being accurate have been replaced by the race to get the story out first, and this transformation in particular has led to lots of sloppy reporting at the least. With the evolution of social media, maybe this was something that couldn’t have been avoided, but people in the business aren’t helping the matter either. Combine the people with all of the aforementioned issues, and it equals a mess where items such as distrust, flip-flopping and the appetite for click bait have become normalized, especially in sports media. Another result from the monstrosity are garbage trends that have also become commonplace, and people can directly affect these for the positive. They just choose not to, and viewers (and/or listeners) don’t have to look any further than the discussions about the NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics.

One of these trends are to put the spotlight on the losing players and teams when results come in. Let’s look at the Monday morning quarterbacking after Game 1 this past Thursday night. It’s a fact the Warriors entered the fourth quarter up by 12, then ended the game losing by the same margin. As expected, the conversation started with accessing what Golden State did wrong, totally ignoring what the Celtics did right to turn things around. After all, it was Boston who scored 40 points in the fourth quarter by hitting practically every shot they threw up. It was also the Celtics who were able to lock the Warriors up defensively, holding them to 16 points in the final 12 minutes to win the game 120-108. One more thing, the trio of Marcus Smart, Al Horford and Derrick White combined to hit 15 three-pointers in the game. Considering Golden State forced a terrible shooting night from Jayson Tatum in the process, an argument can be made in favor of the Dubs getting everything they were looking for on defense. Tip the cap to Smart, Horford and White for stepping up and knocking down shots. With society, the focus seems to stay on the negative and the topics where the most drama is apparent. It’s time to start giving credit where it’s due, and Boston deserves all of it in this case.

Before the series started, I checked a good amount of the websites and networks (including ESPN, CBS Sports, Yahoo! Sports and FOX Sports) to see who the “experts” had winning the series. The majority (so did I) had the Warriors winning in six or seven games. Fast forward to the result of Game 1, and it was predictable to hear the hot take artists and media members who picked Golden State start to go back on their original views. One would have thought the Celtics won the series in a one-and-done scenario, and Steph Curry lost his chance to build on his legacy based off this game. As funny (and deplorable) as it was to hear people panic due to fear of being wrong on their predictions, it couldn’t beat the sense of calm after the Warriors won Game 2 107-88 Sunday night. Order was restored come Monday morning, and so was the mass-entrance back on the bandwagon. I will never understand why people media members and fans alike make these predictions when they know they’re scrambling the minute things don’t go as planned. Unless there’s an injury to a crucial player, there’s no reason to panic. Ride with the pick until proven right or wrong, and please don’t start making excuses if and when those picks go down the drain.

Because most of the sports media apparently forgets the NBA playoff format is composed of best-of-seven series, one result is enough to bring up the wide range of convenience arguments. What I mean is if said media personality is proven right, they don’t want to hear excuses from the people who was on the losing side. Let them be the ones on the short end, and they’re using those same excuses to justify why. The low-hanging fruit of officiating (among other items) is what catches the wrath of the scorned loser in most cases, but it’s amazing how these arguments go away when they’re proven right. Breaking news…nobody is going to get everything right. Unless your name is God or Goddess, perfection isn’t in anyone’s future, and it’s okay to admit when things don’t work in your favor. Instead, we have an epidemic of excuse-making and pride getting in the way, and it’s beyond sad.

Notice the title mentions all of the above as trends, which means they’re not definite. Nothing has to become permanent because people have the choice to make it better or worse. Things in sports media (and life in general) are the way they are because the men and women in the industry allow it, and the discussion about the NBA Finals underline where these issues lay. While social media can be looked at as a cesspool of negativity at times, it is good for calling out those in the profession on their BS. Even with that, the change from the thirst for drama, flip-flopping and convenience arguments have to happen from within. Until that happens, there’s no reason to believe these trends wouldn’t continue.