Jayson Tatum is coming on the heels of the best basketball season of his NBA career with the Boston Celtics.
The Celtics cruised past their opponents throughout the 2023-24 NBA season. For starters, they were in a class of their own during the regular season as they attained a league-best 64-18 record.
Following an impressive regular season, the Celtics carried their form into the postseason. The organization finally won an NBA Championship for the first time since 2008. Although the Cs had plenty of star power on the roster last season, Jayson Tatum was by far the biggest name.
Despite missing out on winning the 2024 NBA Finals MVP, Tatum was the heart and soul of Boston throughout the season. Keeping that in mind, JT is finally getting his flowers, at least from NBA general managers.
Tatum outclasses LeBron James for NBA GMs’ picks for best small forward in the league
With the NBA preseason underway, it’s time to make some final predictions before the regular season commences. That said, the Association recently conducted an anonymous general manager survey where the executives voted on a plethora of things.
The anonymous GMs picked their favorites for the best player in each position, among other things. Speaking of which, 47% of NBA GMs believe Tatum is the best small forward in the league right now.
As evident from the above-attached tweet via X (formerly known as Twitter), Tatum surpassed the likes of LeBron James, Luka Doncic, and Kevin Durant, who each received 17% votes. On the other hand, Tatum’s teammate and reigning NBA Finals MVP, Jaylen Brown, received just 3% of the votes.
Tatum held the position last season as well, with 47% votes. He is expected to prove his worth once again in the 2024-25 season.
Tatum could be playing with a chip on his shoulder
Following a successful NBA campaign, Tatum also played for Team USA during the 2024 Paris Olympics. The team featured a trio of James, Durant, and Stephen Curry, among many other greats. Evidently, most big-name stars have to adjust to a reduced role when donning Team USA colors.
However, there is a difference between a reduced role and barely playing on the team. JT went through the latter and Team USA head coach Steve Kerr was criticized for his decision. After all, it stirred a huge debate in the NBA community.
Either way, Tatum had multiple DNPs at the Olympics and will likely use that disrespect as a motivating factor for the upcoming season.
Last season, he averaged a terrific 26.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 4.9 assists per game for the Celtics. Boston fans will expect more of the same from the 5x NBA All-Star in the new season.
