The 2021-22 NBA season was a roller coaster ride for the Boston Celtics. They hit their low point on January 6th when they blew a 24-point lead to the New York Knicks at home. That dropped their record to 18-21 but turned out to be the turning point of their season.
The Celtics flipped the scripting, as they were one of the best teams in the NBA from that point on. They finished the season 33-10, earning the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference in the process.
They rode that momentum into the postseason. Boston swept the Brooklyn Nets in the first round before defeating the Milwaukee Bucks in the second round. In the Eastern Conference Finals, they defeated the Miami Heat, setting up a matchup with the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals.
The Celtics’ run would end there as the Warriors defeated them in six games. It was something that Jayson Tatum recently opened up about in an interview with Taylor Rooks. He described it as a miserable feeling.
“Those three, four days after (the NBA Finals), I was miserable. I really, really was,” Tatum explained. “It took some time to get out of that funk and just kind of enjoy my life and enjoy being around my son and my family.
“I feel like sometimes I come off so laid back that I don’t know if people understand how much I invest into this game. How much I care, how hard I work,” he continued. “But it was just so tough because I literally gave everything that I had. To feel like I ran out, that I didn’t have anything left to give, and that we were so close … I didn’t have an appetite, I didn’t want to talk to anybody, I didn’t want to go anywhere.”
It is hard to fault Tatum for feeling that way. When you get that close to your ultimate goal of winning a championship and fall short, it will hurt, especially with his performance throughout the series against the Warriors.
Tatum struggled mightily in the six games against Golden State. Andrew Wiggins was excellent defensively and was a big reason that Tatum shot only 36.7 percent in the series. When combined with Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, Tatum had to work hard for all of his shots.
That disappointment will likely fuel Tatum for years to come. Knowing what it feels to fall that short is something that he will never want to experience again.
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