Jayson Tatum continued to rewrite the Celtics' history books in Saturday night's 124-114 win over the Brooklyn Nets, becoming the youngest Celtic to reach 10,000 career points, a record previously held by Antoine Walker.
Tatum reached the historic milestone in the very building he was drafted in back in 2017 – The Barclays Center.
Tatum is now the tenth youngest player to reach the 10,000-point milestone in NBA history and is just the 14th player in Celtics' franchise history.
The 25-year-old also became the only player in NBA history to reach 10,000 points and 1,000 made threes before turning 26.
"It's kinda hard to process," Tatum said postgame when reflecting on his historic milestone. "In the moment, it's a huge accomplishment. [I'm] extremely blessed to be a part of such a great franchise. I've been fortunate to be on some really good teams, have some really, really good coaches, and obviously have some great teammates."
Tatum entered Saturday night's game needing only 16 points to reach 10,000. The 6-year pro doubled that number, pouring in a team-high 32 points on 10-of-20 (50%) shooting from the field and 6-of-10 (60%) from deep. Tatum also snagged a game-high 11 boards (he is now averaging a career-high 9.6 rebounds per game through the first five games).
Boston's superstar, who became the first player in franchise history to average 30 points per game over a season last year, is now averaging 30.2 points per game, which is good for fourth in the NBA. The efficiency at which Tatum is scoring is nothing short of incredible.
Tatum is shooting 55% from the floor this season. He is 29-of-43 (67.4%) from the paint, 7-of-15 (46.7%) from midrange, 19-of-42 (45.2%) from three, and 22-of-26 (84.6%) at the free throw line. Tatum has shot under 50% just once through five games this season, as his growth as a scorer has been evident.
At just 25 years old, Tatum is the face of Boston sports, a city he didn't want to come to when he was drafted.
"I was ignorant when I got drafted," Tatum said with a smile postgame. "First of all, I didn't even want to come [to Boston] because I didn't think I was going to play. They [Boston] had Gordon [Hayward], JB [Jaylen Brown], Isaiah Thomas, and [Marcus] Smart, and I didn't think I was good enough to be on that team."
It turns out Tatum was good enough to be on that team — Four Eastern Conference Finals appearances, a trip to the NBA Finals, three All-NBA selections, and 10,000 career points later, things have changed drastically, as Tatum's name is etched throughout the Celtics' history books, a credit to his hard work and dedication.
"He shows up to work every single day," head coach Joe Mazzulla said. "He puts the work in, he dedicates his life to it. He doesn't miss days, he doesn't miss practices, games. And just his open-mindedness and wanting to be coached and wanting to be held to a high standard."
Tatum has ascended to one of the best players in the league. The next step is raising a championship banner.
