The Discourse Around Jayson Tatum Sitting Out Game 7 Is Patently Insane

Boston Globe. Getty Images.

Look, I get it. We're all upset and a little on edge. That's what happens when you choke away 3-1 series leads and your season ends in the first week of May as a supposed title contender. People lose their minds, fans overreact and let their frustrations boil over, I get all that. I share many of those same feelings. It was a colossal failure from top to bottom. For the second straight playoffs, the Celtics were outplayed and outexecuted in a series they had no business losing. That stings.

HOWEVER

When it comes to this 2026 series and some of the discourse/narratives that have come out of the Celts latest underachievement, one thing I legitimately cannot believe is happening is how people/local media are talking about Jayson Tatum sitting out Game 7. 

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Listen, I get that this is nothing new, especially when the Celts have a disaster loss. But seriously, WHAT THE FUCK ARE WE EVEN TALKING ABOUT HERE?????

I'd say this is all just a bit and whatnot for engagement, but honestly I think these are real takes. That there are somehow real life people out there who not only think Tatum sitting out was wrong, but that he was selfish for it? Again, I have to ask, WHAT THE FUCK ARE WE EVEN TALKING ABOUT???

Since Tatum's initial return on March 6th, I always figured everyone was aligned with how things should be treated and things were pretty straight forward. As long as he's 10000% not at risk of injury and he's ready to go, he plays. The second that is not the case, he sits. Even if it's a 1% level of discomfort or issue, he sits. When you are talking about your franchise player, someone who worked his ass off and made a miraculous recovery from a devastating injury, you have to be OVERLY cautious. I know they said it was a knee thing, but we all saw him grab his calf on the bench of Game 6. Maybe that's all related to the knee, I'm not a doctor, so what do I know. But what I do know is that the second there was ANY sign of discomfort or anything that could potentially lead to another injury, the ONLY decision is to shut it down. I get that it's a painful decision to make given the context of it being ahead of Game 7, but I'm sorry, I do not think you can be so shortsighted when it comes to THIS player coming off the injury he just had. You are begging for something catastrophic to happen, even if you think there's only a 0.0000000001% chance it does. That's still not worth the risk, and I still believe that even with the hindsight of knowing the Celts lost Game 7. That sucks for sure, but you know what sucks even more? Losing Tatum again to any additional leg injuries.

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The fact that we even got to see Tatum play at all this season was a blessing. The fact that he came back and looked like himself in both the regular season and the playoffs was a HUGE win. That's what matters. Being upset or taking shots at him because he didn't risk injury for a Game 7 is losing the plot in my opinion.

And here's the other part of why all of these attacks towards Tatum make little sense. The team shut him down. They protected Tatum from himself, which is their job. It's on the front office, the medical staff, and Tatum's team to make sure they do what is best for him long term. 

Instead, it feels like everyone is ignoring that reality just to get these weird takes off. The way Tatum is being talked about, it's as if nobody has watched his entire career. The guy who NEVER sits out just decided out of the blue to miss Game 7? One of the best Game 7 performers in NBA history just decided "eh, I'm good"?

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I also don't get the obsession with the Round 2 comment and how that's somehow a negative. Things with this return have always been fluid. He plays, they see how he reacts, and if it's all good, then he keeps playing. If something pops up, he sits. Is it plausible that after some rest the issues he was experiencing would subside and he'd be back to being cleared? If that happened at some point in the second round, that would be a problem? I just don't see the issue. This treatment plan has been the case since March, and it just so happened that things popped up in May. The timing sucks, but that's life. This is why you don't extend series and take care of business when you have the opportunity to end someone's season. The longer the Celts let their first round series go, the more they opened themselves up for something like this to happen, and it unfortunately happened.

But when I think about coming off this playoff failure, there are so many things we can focus on. The play of Jaylen Brown, Derrick White disappearing, the performance and decision making of Joe Mazzulla, the fact that their stars were outplayed by Philly's stars, the defensive breakdowns, the list goes on and on.

What should absolutely not be on the table? Questioning anything regarding Jayson Tatum being shut down for Game 7. Turning what is a no brainer decision into some sort of character assassination is beyond gross. Especially knowing everything Tatum did to even come back in the first place.