Since coming into the league, Jayson Tatum has been the main lively stakeholder in carrying Kobe Bryant’s affect into a brand new decade. In nature, the Inexperienced Mamba is a much less aggressive, unhazardous breed, in comparison with the eponymous viper Kobe constructed his persona round, which is an apt description for the distinction between his profession arc and Tatum’s so far.
Tatum’s proximity to greatness has by no means been questioned. No lively participant devoted his power to transforming into a carbon copy of Kobe Bryant. After spending his one-and-done season enjoying for Coach Ok at Duke, Tatum relied on the Black Mamba’s mentorship spending offseasons attempting to finish his metamorphosis right into a facsimile of Kobe and even wore a purple and gold Kobe 24 armband in Sport 7 of the 2022 Convention Finals.
In seven seasons, Tatum has reached 4 Convention Finals, twice come inside a recreation of the NBA Finals, and ran out of steam two video games in need of his first NBA title when he was solely 24. Nonetheless, crossing that ending tape has all the time been essentially the most troublesome threshold for Boston’s Inexperienced Mamba to succeed in the identical airplane as Kobe Bryant. Every week in the past Tatum was ranked fourth in ESPN’s most recent MVP Straw Poll behind Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo regardless of being the important thing to the league’s prime common season group for the reason that season started.
When requested by Malika Andrews this week if he was the perfect participant within the NBA, Tatum gave a distinct reply than a year ago when he named Giannis Antetokounmpo.
“I truly believe every night I step on the floor, I’m the best player,” Tatum replied with a newfound Kobe-like confidence.
Nikola Jokic erasure apart, Tatum’s perception in himself is a untimely take that doesn’t correspond with actuality. He’s by no means led the league in a significant statistical class, gained a Finals MVP, common season MVP, or earned consideration for Defensive Participant of the Yr. That response additionally got here within the wake of Brian Windhorst’s feedback about Tatum’s MVP candidacy being hampered by his efficiency within the postseason two years in the past the place he set a document for turnovers and shot 36 p.c from the sector in his lone Finals look.
There’s a component of reality to that. Had he answered the decision in these Finals, he’d be acknowledged because the Kobe heir-apparent crown the nationwide media was desirous to bestow upon Devin Booker a yr earlier.
That was two years in the past and it’s exhausting to consider Tatum remains to be solely 25 contemplating the criticism he confronted as one of many league’s preeminent younger guards. However up to now in his profession, he’s confronted a major impediment in his marketing campaign to tell apart himself within the MVP mosaic which boils all the way down to a single query. Which side of the sport has he carved out as his?
Does he launch from deep or fly off screens and relocate to create separation with the prowess of a Steph Curry? No.
Tatum doesn’t have the positional flexibility or bounce of a strolling triple-double Russell Westbrook. James Harden was essentially the most explosive scorer and playmaker the league has seen in a era in his prime. Tatum doesn’t possess the scale and ferocity of Embiid driving the lane or when he flashes his suffocating assist protection.
Can he rating inside and bait defenders into fouling him with the craftiness of reigning MVP Joel Embiid? When wholesome the reigning MVP was registering almost twice as many journeys to the charity stripe as Tatum.
Jokic is an offensive virtuoso from the elbow and within the publish whether or not he’s slipping passes into tight crevices or getting buckets on his personal. The argument for greatest participant within the NBA begins and ends with the reigning MVP and the only player with a higher career playoff Player Efficiency Rating than Michael Jordan.
Even Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is without doubt one of the most effective scorers the league has seen on the guard place this aspect of Curry regardless of solely being a league-average shooter behind the arc.
Luka Doncic is a extra exaggerated model of Tatum as a contemporary heliocentric jumbo guard. Kevin Durant’s midrange mastery has made him a bucket anyplace on the ground.
Early in Tatum’s profession, he was discouraged from making the midrange his area. When he returned to the Celtics for his sophomore season trying an extreme quantity of lengthy twos after an offseason spent coaching with Kobe, he was conditioned to abandon his midrange and back-to-the-basket game. Since then, Tatum has been a jack of all trades and a grasp of none. Tatum additionally isn’t as uniquely expert as prime Larry Hen or Invoice Russell. Tatum is presented at so many elements of the sport that he’s discovering it harder to interrupt by means of the noise.
The most effective MVP case that could possibly be made for a participant with Tatum’s statistical profile is that he’s the straw that stirs the drink for the league’s wire-to-wire frontrunner. Tatum’s consistency is applaudable, however his peak performances have hardly ever reached the spectacular altitudes as his friends. In a record-setting offensive yr, the aforementioned Doncic leads the league with 10 video games of 40-plus factors scored this season. Tatum has tallied only three, the identical quantity as Cam Thomas, Mikal Bridges, and Tyrese Maxey.
Enjoying inside the offense whereas surrounded by the league’s most well-calibrating supporting solid has blunted his MVP candidacy. He’s surrounded by a quartet of defensive boa constrictors who’ve performed their roles to perfection on the offensive finish.
Like Tatum, this Celtics squad as an entire has struggled to realize a footing within the basketball zeitgeist. They’re averaging the third-most made triples in league history with out having a single particular person shooter rating within the prime 15. Brown is a pleasant complementary scorer, however how they mesh has develop into the middle of conversations. He’s develop into extra recognized for being the highest-paid participant in NBA historical past. Earlier than that, he was perennially loitering on the commerce block because of the notion that he was an unflattering match alongside Tatum than dynamic duos from Philly, both L.A. franchise, Oklahoma Metropolis, Dallas, or the Nuggets.
These Celtics lead the league in internet score, however lack panache and an identification. The center and soul of the Celtics pumped by means of Marcus Sensible, and Robert Williams was a homegrown product who spearheaded the league’s greatest protection. A yr later, they had been the league’s most effective offense. Changing that pair with upgrades like Porzingis and Jrue Vacation has given this temp roster the texture of one thing constructed by a division of a McKinsey consulting agency.
They’re not as brash because the final Celtics to convey a title to Beantown or as a lot of an electrical shock to the system as KG, Fact, and Ray Allen flying out the gates and becoming a member of forces through the summer season of 2007. Boston has been on the point of profitable one with this iteration for the reason that 2017 Convention Finals. Honest or not, these components have hindered him from gaining floor in MVP of “face of the league” discussions.
Previous MVPs have usually been given the advantage of the doubt by MVP voters earlier than they’re humbled within the postseason. That possible gained’t be the case for Tatum who has already been to the brink of a title a number of occasions in his younger profession.
Branding himself as Child Kobe cosplay in Celtic Inexperienced hasn’t been sufficient. With out a ring, he’s caught gazing Kobe’s legacy from the mezzanine. Tatum wants yet one more leap to strategy these heights. There’s just one factor he can do to flip that narrative. Come playoff time, he’ll should beat the perfect to be the perfect.
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