Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum is one of the most talented young players in the NBA. He is one of the players on the short list of potential next faces of the league given his level of talent and what he has accomplished to this point in his career.
In Year 7, Tatum has already been named to five All-Star teams and three All-NBA teams, with this season likely resulting in a fourth. Some analysts believe that Tatum should be in the mix for the MVP award this season.
One of the people who fall into that camp is former NBA star, Paul Pierce. During a recent sitdown with Kevin Garnett, Pierce revealed a bold prediction for Tatum; he believes Tatum will be the face of the NBA sooner rather than later and is the best American-born player in the league.
There could certainly be a little bias in Pierce’s opinion as he also played for the Celtics for the majority of his professional career. But, the Hall of Famer isn’t alone in his assessment of Tatum, as many people have positive projections of his career.
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But, the one thing that Tatum is missing from his resume is an NBA Championship. The Celtics are in a great position to fix that this year as they were the most dominant team in the NBA throughout the regular season.
In Game 1 against the Miami Heat, Tatum recorded a triple-double, the first in the NBA Playoffs for a Celtic player since Marcus Smart. However, the team did fall short in Game 2, as Boston is heading to South Beach in an unexpected 1-1 tie.
Pierce’s prediction on Tatum came before the Game 2 loss and it would be hard to imagine his opinion would change much after one game. But if the Celtics fall short against Miami in the first round, or don’t win the NBA title this year, the tenor around Tatum is going to drastically change.
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