{"id":29186,"date":"2020-03-02T11:39:52","date_gmt":"2020-03-02T16:39:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/?p=29186"},"modified":"2020-03-02T11:39:52","modified_gmt":"2020-03-02T16:39:52","slug":"the-rise-of-jayson-tatum-to-superstar-level-for-boston-celtics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2020\/03\/02\/the-rise-of-jayson-tatum-to-superstar-level-for-boston-celtics\/","title":{"rendered":"Jayson Tatum\u2019s Rise to Superstardom"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/tatumja01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jayson Tatum<\/a><\/strong> has worked his way into becoming the star of the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/nba-teams\/boston-celtics\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Boston Celtics<\/a> in just three short seasons. In the 2019-20 season, Tatum is averaging 23.5 points and 7.9 rebounds per game to go along with 2.9 assists. The Celtics are currently 41-18 overall. Sitting at third overall in the Eastern Conference, Tatum is key to Boston&#8217;s success going into the playoffs.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>The Rise of Jayson Tatum<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h3><strong>A Soon-to-Be Superstar<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Tatum has revolutionized his game and his love of the game during his three seasons in the NBA. Being the face of the franchise for such a legendary team like the Boston Celtics comes with a lot of responsibility on the court. But having players like <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/smartma01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marcus Smart<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/haywago01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gordon Hayward<\/a><\/strong> to help Tatum lead the team to make him a better player.<\/p>\n<p>The amount of individual success Tatum has accomplished while in Boston has made him a fan favorite. With veterans to learn from and young guys to mentor, Jayson Tatum has become the face of the franchise for the Celtics.<\/p>\n<p>The 6-foot-8 guard put up 33 points against the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/nba-teams\/utah-jazz\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Utah Jazz<\/a> on Wednesday night. Before that game, Tatum dropped 36 against the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/nba-teams\/portland-trail-blazers\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Portland Trail Blazers<\/a> and 41 against the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/nba-teams\/los-angeles-lakers\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Los Angeles Lakers<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The way Tatum has taken over in Boston and is leading the team in the right direction should have Celtics fans excited. Given the way last season ended in the playoffs, it seems that Tatum and the Celtics are determined to make a run at the NBA Finals this season. However, that means having to face potentially the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/nba-teams\/toronto-raptors\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Toronto Raptors<\/a> or the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/nba-teams\/milwaukee-bucks\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Milwaukee Bucks<\/a> in the Eastern Conference Finals should Tatum lead Boston that far.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>The Face of the Franchise<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The Boston Celtics have seen many talented players lead the coveted team to NBA championships. From <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/russebi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Bill<\/strong> <strong>Russell<\/strong><\/a> to <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/birdla01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Larry Bird<\/a><\/strong> to <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/piercpa01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Paul Pierce<\/a><\/strong>, the Boston Celtics have a long list of players that have led the team to a championship. Now, it&#8217;s Tatum&#8217;s turn to take the Celtics back to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2010.<\/p>\n<p>The Celtics&#8217; new star has taken on a big role in under four seasons. Just like other young stars around the league, Tatum is being relied on to take his team all the way and revolutionize the Celtics all while helping them reach their goal of an 18th NBA championship.<\/p>\n<p>When Tatum came to the NBA from Duke University, the Celtics coaches knew what they were getting in him as a player when they selected him. The third-year small forward has given the front office and the fan base hope for another title run.<\/p>\n<p>Even with veterans and young players to spread the ball around to, Tatum continues to lead the Celtics and is showing the coaching staff why he was the right selection. His 23.3 points per game are good for first on the team. He is averaging 34.3 minutes per game with seven rebounds.<\/p>\n<p>When Gordon Hayward suffered his brutal injury, the Celtics relied on Tatum and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/brownja02.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Jaylen Brown<\/strong><\/a> to lead the team. The former Duke Blue Devil delivered and led Boston to the playoffs last season.<\/p>\n<p>This year, Jayson Tatum is playing at a very high level in every game. Even though he isn&#8217;t putting up 30+ points per game, he continues to improve his game and make his statement known that he is the right guy to lead the team.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo:<br \/>\n<a id=\"2VcLsJ8fQhZdj7svbnBsHg\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1170289510\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'2VcLsJ8fQhZdj7svbnBsHg',sig:'ky4LkxqQPZnA1dsmJj8YLc2TLaEoiaLoYWJrn9SKs_w=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1170289510',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jayson Tatum has worked his way into becoming the star of the Boston Celtics in just three short seasons. In the 2019-20 season, Tatum is averaging 23.5 points and 7.9 rebounds per game to go along with 2.9 assists. The Celtics are currently 41-18 overall. Sitting at third overall in the Eastern Conference, Tatum is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":187,"featured_media":29213,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1608,2,62],"tags":[302,450,798,428,96,605],"class_list":["post-29186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celtics","category-basketball","category-featured","category-nba","tag-boston-celtics","tag-jaylen-brown","tag-jayson-tatum","tag-marcus-smart","tag-nba","tag-nba-eastern-conference"],"modified_by":"Chase Gage","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/187"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29186\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}