For The First Time Ever, Jayson Tatum Opened Up About His All NBA Snub That Cost Him $30 Million Dollars

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As a fan, we've watched a lot of growth when it comes to Jayson Tatum. Mostly as a player. From a teenager dunking on LeBron to one of the best talents in the entire league. But lately, we're starting to see growth in a different area, off the floor. I have to say, I've listened to every single thing Jayson Tatum has said in front of a microphone. Not just postgame interviews or media sessions, but podcasts too. Like when he went on All The Smoke with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson or Knucklheads with Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles. I feel confident in saying that this interview with JJ Redick is the most open and candid I've ever heard him. Yesterday we were given this little snippet about Jayson talking through his All NBA snub. Let's have a listen

First off, spot the lie. You can't, because there isn't one. You have to remember, the NBA media voted him as one of the best 15 players last year. The reason he didn't make All NBA was because of positions. Why the NBA is so stuck on this position idea when that is not really how basketball is played is beyond confusing. Ultimately, this is why Tatum didn't make it

This all revolves around the Rose Rule. That's where the supermax comes into play. To qualify, here's how a player can do it

1. Make two All-NBA teams between the player’s second and fourth seasons

2. Make All-NBA in the player’s fourth season

3. Win MVP any time after the rookie season

4. Win Defensive Player of the Year twice between the player’s second and fourth season

5. Win Defensive Player of the Year in the player’s fourth season

Where things get a little dicey is when it comes to rookie extensions. If you're a star player, you get that max rookie extension after your 3rd season when you initially become eligible. It then makes that Year 4 that hasn't happened yet pretty damn important in terms of qualifying for that money. This is what happened to Tatum. He made All NBA in his Year 3, and got the extension. It allowed for the possibility of turning into a supermax if he made All NBA in Year 4, or his any of those other requirements. The team clearly thought he was worth the supermax, which is why they structured his deal that way, they just couldn't give it to him in Year 3 obviously. 

We then know what happened. The Celts underachieved in an injury and covid plagued season, and despite having the votes, Tatum missed out. Like he said in the clip, he still made $175M. I think he's going to be OK. But Tatum does bring up an interesting point about the entire process. It's not exactly a hot take to say that it's a little nuts that random media members can have that sort of power over a player's earning potential. You can simply decide you don't like a guy and not vote for him, and it takes $30M out of his pocket. That's a little crazy. Whoever that person was that said they didn't vote for Tatum because of his shot selection, well Julius Randle made All NBA with terrible shot selection. Did that person vote for Randle? You can see how inconsistent some of this reasoning can be.

Look ahead to the next wave of stars, like Ja Morant. I feel confident in saying he's going to make All NBA this year, which is his Year 3. Pretty much the exact situation as Tatum. Is it possible Dame comes back next year and is back to his All NBA form that we saw in 2020-21? I'd say so. Chris Paul isn't going anywhere, who knows, by next year Kyrie might be able to play in all the games so he'll be in the mix. We know Luka and Steph are going to be there. It's not entirely out of the realm of possibility that Ja doesn't make it next year. If that happens, he won't be eligible for that supermax money. The Grizzlies couldn't give it to him even if they wanted to! This is where JJ's point makes sense. Is anyone going to say Ja isn't a star or didn't do his job if he doesn't get voted into All NBA next year? Of course not! 

But this isn't really just an All NBA issue either. We see a lot of these potential issues with media voting when it comes to the MVP as well. Remember this? 

You can understand why this might be frustrating for players. For my money, there are plenty of other things the league should do to resolve the All NBA voting issue. First and foremost, get rid of positions. Pick the 15 best players that season and call it a day. I think that will honestly solve a lot of the problems. This should be the case for All Star, All NBA, etc. Just pick the best guys. If that's more guards than wings? So be it. If that means more bigs than guards and wings? Great! Think about it, you're telling me one of Jokic or Embiid isn't going to make First Team All NBA simply because they both play center? How does that make any sense to anyone who has watched both play this season. That is beyond stupid. 

Next, have a more concrete set of criteria that makes you eligible for All NBA. Games played, certain production benchmarks etc. There are plenty of ways to quantify what NBA players do on the court, and the ones who do those things the best should be rewarded. Third, maybe we split things between the media and coaches. If you have the possibility of bias working against a player via a media member, maybe you balance that out with the bias going the other way with an NBA coach pumping up his guy. I dunno, I'm just spitballing here. 

At the end of the day, like I said, fans aren't going to feel bad or give a shit that a dude who signed a $175M extension wasn't able to make it $205M. But what it does is shed some light on how I imagine a ton of the elite players feel when it comes to All NBA and MVP voting. Tatum isn't the first player to be snubbed like this and he most certainly will not be the last as long as the voting and requirements stay how they are. For a guy that is generally very quiet and doesn't say much, I thought it was pretty refreshing to hear him be so candid about this. I think we as Celts fans always wondered how he felt, so it was cool to see things from his side.