The NBA playoffs this season saw the young Jayson Tatum becoming the main man for the Boston Celtics. The team failed to get past the Miami Heat in the semifinal round but there is no denying the league will see more of the 22-year-old ascending to superstar status.
Young as he is, Tatum has emerged as the Celtics' leader and this fact became more apparent in the Orlando games. In Game 5 of the series against the Miami Heat, Tatum proved he can do most of the heavy lifting that will give his squad another day. The Cs are tiring out the Heat crew and the blame points to the Boston superstar.
Arguably, Tatum is now leading the way for the Celtics and according to Rachel Nichols of ESPN, he is getting help from a former member of the team. Kyrie Irving left for the Brooklyn Nets last summer but he kept in touch with Tatum, and the two are sharing ideas on how to play better basketball.
Mostly, Irving has been helping out his younger buddy, providing the inputs that hopefully will make Tatum an effective leader to his Celtics teammates, Nichols said.
"Kyrie has been calling Jayson occasionally through his time bubble to talk, offer advice," Yahoo Sports reported the ESPN journalist as saying.
It might be that Irving's invisible influence on Tatum will not be appreciated by the Boston crowd, on the account of the Nets superstar's tumultuous two-year stay with the Celtics, but his help appeared to have a positive impact on the younger player.
As mentioned, Tatum carried his team to force Game 6 in the showdown with Miami. The star fired off 31 points and cleared 10 rebounds. His Game 5 performance led to another playoff game for the Cs and it also proved one thing - that Tatum is assuming the role of the Boston main man in the seasons to come.
It's too bad that the Celtics ran out of steam in Game 6 but the result did not water down the fact that he is now the team's best player. Tatum will continue to shine but it is not an assurance that Boston will always win and achieve better things. Forbes said basketball is still a team sport so it will take a collective effort for the 17-time NBA champions to relive the old glory days.
In the seasons to come, Tatum will be the point man to a crew that will boast of young and rising talents. The Celtics missed the mark in this campaign but it would be a huge mistake not to expect great things from the team moving forward, and that is happening because of Tatum's presence.
