There aren't too many people who are questioning or criticizing Jayson Tatum's pure talent out there on the basketball court. After all, he's a deadly scorer from most anywhere on the floor, one of the league's brightest young talents in a number of different departments and a true superstar for years to come, with the stats to back up all the hype.
But where he falls short for some people is in the leadership department, or as a teammate, or in one of the other important intangibles for an NBA success story. An anonymous NBA coach ripped Tatum as someone who doesn't care much about winning. There are those who find his constant whining and complaining directed toward officials to be a bit too much. And the fact that the Celtics have come up short time and time again in the playoffs as of late — and are hovering in mediocrity to start the 2021-22 campaign — brings the criticism even higher.
But Tatum doesn't understand it. Though he doesn't stay quiet when discussing the outcomes of plays with the referees, he's not the most outspoken leader in the world and he may not seem like the biggest motivator or captain we've ever seen... but that's just what the perception is of those critics, says Tatum.
"...They don't know me and they don't know our environment, or they didn't speak to any of the guys that I play with," Tatum told ESPN's Sage Steele. "It's always been baffling to me that they don't— they're not in it, but they get to critique what you're doing and they don't know anything about it. And it's like, yeah I'm not the most vocal but I talk to my teammates all the time and the guys that I played with, the guys in the organization, they know.
"You've got to be yourself, and me, as much as I love him, my personality is not like Kevin Garnett. And that doesn't work for me and I've got to be true to myself and do things in my own way for it to be genuine."
He's right, of course, in that faking a personality or putting on some sort of inauthentic front wouldn't be the most conducive way for someone to lead a team. And he's also right that KG was a rare breed. After all, there are only so many stanchions to bang your head against, right?
The other question that is on the minds of a lot of Celtics skeptics has nothing to do with Tatum's leadership abilities and instead focuses on whether or not he can lead Boston to a ring with Jaylen Brown as his co-star. Tatum expressed his belief in the pair, saying that they're "two of the hungriest players in the league" and that they work to make each other better. Based on other murmurs, however, the jury might be out on that thought.
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