Jayson Tatum has enjoyed a whirlwind 12 months. He’s won his first NBA championship, his second Olympic gold medal, made his fifth straight All-Star team and his third consecutive All-NBA First Team. And he did all of those things while sacrificing some of his offensive production to allow Boston’s star-studded roster to thrive despite it’s exceptional depth.
In a recent article from Yahoo Sports’ Ben Rohrbach, Tatum was ranked as the fourth-best number-one option in the NBA, sitting directly behind Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic and Giannis Antetokounmpo. As such, he’s been ranked ahead of Steph Curry, Anthony Edward, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, among others.
“You could easily make the argument here for any number of players, including Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards, Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid, Jalen Brunson or Kevin Durant, but in my opinion they are either too young, too little, too injury-prone or too old to usurp Tatum, for he is none of those things,” Rohrbach wrote. “Tatum was the best player on a team that won seven more games than any other team last season and cruised to the championship. He sacrificed statistics on a stacked roster and still averaged 27-8-5 on the highest efficiency of a career that has landed him on the All-NBA first team for three years in a row.”
Tatum will enter the new NBA season keen to help the Boston Celtics repeat their success from last season and secure back-to-back championships. He will also have the additional motivation of wanting to prove people wrong after a difficult summer with Team USA and a consistent battering from the media, who have consistently questioned his status as a top-tier talent in the league.
Boston will need Tatum at his best if they want to sustain another championship run, especially now they have a target on their back as the team to beat. Tatum is the Celtics‘ star player for a reason, and the upcoming season is the perfect time for him to remind everyone what he’s capable of.
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This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Jayson Tatum listed among best No.1 options in the NBA.
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