Jayson Tatum is the face of the Boston Celtics. He is their best player and is the first player you think of when you think of the modern-day Celtics.
Tatum is the best overall player that the Celtics have, even though Jaylen Brown is also really good. Brown is the reigning NBA Finals MVP, but Tatum is still the face of the Celtics.
Despite this, Tatum hardly played last summer in the Olympics. Steve Kerr decided that he was not going to be in the rotation when they started playing in the Group Stage, along with Tyrese Haliburton.
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There has been a lot of talk about who the face of the NBA will be when LeBron James and Stephen Curry retire. Tatum seems like he wouldn’t be in the conversation for that after not playing in the Olympics.
Yet, one former player thinks that Tatum is already the face of the NBA. Former point guard Gilbert Arenas thinks that he is already the face of the league.
Jayson Tatum hate only means he is the new face of the NBA 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/idRBU7Y9XA
— Underdog (@UnderdogFantasy) February 28, 2025
“Tatum is the face of the league. 1000 percent. When you talk about him negative compared to his actual resume, this is not the 80s and the 90s where we made our superstar look good. For the last 20-something years, it’s been a negative thing on the face of the NBA. Whoever got bashed the most, didn’t even think about it. He is the face because we pretend his resume is not his resume.”
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Arenas’ argument is essentially that since the media bashes Tatum so much, that means he is actually the face of the league. It means that the media talks about him more than anyone else.
Tatum is not the face of the league yet, but he could be. If the Celtics win the title this year and go back-to-back, that would put him on top of the basketball world.
At that point, it would be impossible to deny that he is one of the best players in the world. He would be the face of a back-to-back champion.
So far this season, Tatum is averaging 27 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 5.8 assists per game.
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For more news and notes on the Boston Celtics, visit Boston Celtics on SI.
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