It is no secret that Boston Celtics star ahead Jayson Tatum has had a curler coaster experience in current months. He is discovered himself on the heart of basketball controversies, together with lacking out on the NBA Finals MVP award, which teammate Jaylen Brown received after Boston beat Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks within the 2024 NBA Finals.
Then there was the difficulty of his utilization with Crew USA on the 2024 Paris Olympics, the place he performed simply 4 of six video games and averaged simply 17.7 minutes per sport.
Jayson Tatum can use all of this as motivation as he prepares for the Celtics’ upcoming title protection.
Tatum additionally famous that Joe Mazzulla is delighted by these aforementioned basketball woes, with the Celtics head coach believing Boston would profit vastly from Tatum taking part in with such a chip on his shoulder.
I spoke to Joe [Mazzulla] “Rather a lot,” Jayson Tatum informed reporters when requested about his motivation heading into the 2024-25 NBA season (h/t Daniel Donabedian of ClutchPoints).
“Joe was most likely the happiest individual on the planet that I did not win the Finals MVP and did not play in two of the video games on the Olympics… I believe every part occurs for a purpose. However it was a very good expertise.”
A motivated Jayson Tatum is unquestionably a very good factor for the Celtics

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The Celtics are about to embark on a serious mission: including extra glory to the storied Boston franchise. They’ve the chance to win back-to-back titles, one thing that does not all the time occur within the NBA. And if the Celtics need to try this within the 2024-25 season, they definitely want Tatum to play at a excessive stage. As proficient and deep because the Celtics are, they nonetheless rely considerably on what Tatum does on the courtroom.
Through the 2023-24 marketing campaign, the previous Duke Blue Devils star led the Celtics in win shares (10.4) and worth relative to alternative participant (4.7), in keeping with Basketball Reference. Jayson Tatum additionally led the Celtics in scoring with 26.9 factors per sport whereas posting a 55.2 subject aim share and a 60.4 subject aim share. As a group, Boston went 64-18 final season.
Successful an NBA title needs to be motivation sufficient for any participant on any group within the league, but when a summer time of frustration bolsters Tatum’s play on the courtroom, it is easy to see the place Mazzulal is coming from and why that may be dangerous information for the Celtics’ rivals.
Rexwell Villas is an skilled sports activities journalist who covers all kinds of sports activities together with the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and faculty soccer. He holds a level in communications from the College of Santo Tomas within the Philippines.