Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum is widely regarded as one of the league’s fastest-rising stars, not yet achieving the numbers that come with national acclaim but showcasing a level of talent that just jumps off the screen.
Last season was supposed to be Tatum’s breakout season, or so it seemed after the young wing scored 18.5 points per game in the 2018 NBA Playoffs as a rookie, leading the Celtics to within a win of the NBA Finals despite the absences of Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward. However, while Tatum experienced modest increases to some of his traditional averages, his field goal percentages dropped and it wasn’t hard to see why.
Perhaps not coincidentally, an offseason that saw him taking advice from Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant led to him taking a number of foolhardy shot attempts, particularly long twos that are almost universally frowned upon in the modern era.
Indeed, Tatum looked like he was just trying to ‘get his’ a lot of the time, without any consideration of how difficult the shot he was taking was.
However, after being selected to participate in training camp for Team USA ahead of the 2019 FIBA World Cup, Tatum did begin to show growth as a player. It began with the offseason workouts he held with renowned basketball trainer Drew Hanlen of Pure Sweat, in which Hanlen challenged Tatum to stop settling for midrange shots after shooting
At Media Day, Tatum discussed his growth as a player while suiting up for Team USA under head coach Gregg Popovich. According to Tatum, his talks with Coach Pop were centered on ways he could dominate the game without scoring.
That meant quicker decisions, getting to the rim more often and refusing to settle for those ill-advised shot attempts.
Tatum said what he talked with Gregg Popovich a lot was to be able to dominate the game and impact the game without scoring. Making quicker decisions, getting to the basket more, and refusing to settle was all part of that.
– Jay King (@ByJayKing) September 30, 2019
Celtics guard Marcus Smart, who was on Team USA with Tatum, also discussed his teammate’s development during the World Cup: “He wasn’t thinking anymore… He was just going out there and playing, taking what the defense gave him and not making it harder than it was.”
Marcus Smart on the growth of Jayson Tatum’s game this summer: “He wasn’t thinking anymore…He was just going out there and playing, taking what the defense gave him and not making it harder than what it was.”
– Brian Robb (@BrianTRobb) September 30, 2019
Instinctive play and patience weren’t characteristics of Tatum’s game last season and it was strange because coming into the league, those intangibles are what led to him being earmarked as a preternatural scorer.
Though he believes he’s unaffected by outside noise, it appears as if the expectations placed upon him last season resulted in him trying to live up to the image others had of him.
Jayson Tatum: “I’ve never really been one affected by outside noise, no matter how good people tell me I’m doing or how bad people tell me I’m doing. I never get too high or too low. Just try to focus on the task at hand and enjoy it.”
– Nicole Yang (@nicolecyang) September 30, 2019
He was pegged to be the second option in just his second season because he averaged 18.5 points per game in the previous postseason and his tendency to take tough shots – rather than create an easier look for himself or his teammates – was emblematic of a young player trying to prove himself to the world at large.
Hopefully, Tatum’s mindset carries over into the 2019-20 regular season. On a team chalk full of offensive threats, his style of play will be more important than the amount of points that he averages.
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