Wake Up Babe It's A New Week Which Means New Jayson Tatum Slander Has Dropped

Justin Casterline. Getty Images.

The NBA Finals start in just 3 days and honestly, Thursday cannot come soon enough. After the Wolves let us all down and couldn't keep their series alive, life without basketball as we all wait for the Finals to begin has been for the most part, absolute hell. You can't turn on the TV or turn on a podcast as a Celts fan without having to deal with some sort of bullshit. Tatum and Brown hate each other, Tatum was jealous of Brown's ECF MVP, their run isn't impressive, the Mavs have the two best players in the series, blah blah blah.

Shit has gotten so bad that we're seeing these talking heads repeat takes we as fans had to deal with back in OCTOBER. Literally the exact same take, just with new characters

So, now that it's a new week we all know what that means. It's time for some fresh Jayson Tatum slander! This time it comes via Zach Lowe, which on the surface is a bit surprising because I never really considered him a "hot take" guy or someone who uses bizarre narratives to create storylines. 

And yet…

Ah yes, this whole thing. Certainly not the first time we've heard something like this, but that certainly doesn't make it any less ridiculous. Now there are parts of this take that I certainly agree with. Guys like Jokic, Luka and Giannis are set in stone as the best three players in the NBA. I think you'd be pretty out of your mind to argue otherwise. 

But, here's where Lowe starts to go off the deep end.

Including SGA, by suggesting his regular season MVP voting results as a reason why he's a top 5 guy and Jayson Tatum is not, makes no sense. The MVP is a regular season award, and as we all saw, Tatum's role in Boston is MUCH different than SGA's in OKC. If Tatum had the same usage and system around him like SGA, his production would be even better. We just witnessed what that looked like last year when he put up over 30 a game. As we saw in the playoffs, there are limitations to SGA's game.

To then mention Joel Embiid, I mean what are we doing here? This isn't a regular season MVP debate. This is a "top 5 player in the NBA" topic, which means it ALL has to be taken into account. Regular season, postseason, health, durability, all of it. How many more seasons are we going to see Jayson Tatum eliminate and play better than Joel Embiid in a playoff series before it's accepted that Embiid is in fact, not better? Suggesting that if Tatum had seen Embiid in a playoff series that he wouldn't be the best player is simply ignoring the YEARS of history that has shown Tatum is the better playoff performer and overall player. I also seem to remember him taking down Giannis as well, including dropping 46 on Giannis' own floor.

As a reminder, Jayson Tatum has made 3 straight All NBA 1st Teams. By the very definition, that is the top 5 players in the league. The fact that other players get hurt and Tatum is durable as hell is not something that should be used against Tatum, but something that should if anything enhance his standing amongst his peers. The best ability is availability last time I checked.

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Just this playoffs, we are watching Jayson Tatum do something we haven't seen SINCE LEBRON

He, like Luka (someone Lowe declares a lock as a Top 5 guy) is currently doing something we've only seen a handful of times IN NBA HISTORY

and yet listen to how Tatum is talked about. It's legitimately insane. 

I get it from upset opposing fanbases who are praying for the Celtics' downfall, but Zach Lowe is not supposed to be one of those trolls. I just find it incredible that despite years and years and years of evidence showing everyone that Jayson Tatum is in fact a superstar and a top 5 player, the narrative around him is the exact opposite in favor of players who not only don't have anywhere close to his success/accomplishments but also are not as well rounded of a player. Oh wow, Joel Embiid is unstoppable against the Pistons and Wizards in January, that's so impressive!

Jayson Tatum plays both ends at an elite level. He's an elite rebounder, he playmakes, he can score at all three levels, he has big time playoff performances both at home and on the road, he's leading one of the most dominant teams currently in NBA history, he has the All NBAs, the list goes on and on.

But because what, SGA had a good regular season for a surprise OKC team that makes him the better overall player? How does that make any sense?

The good news is, Tatum has an opportunity to end this bullshit once and for all. A title and a Finals MVP ends this conversation for the rest of time. No more flavors of the month being put ahead of him in these silly debates, no more bullshit narratives, it all ends forever.

Just 4 more wins. That's it.