Best is yet to come for disappointed Jayson Tatum

Jayson Tatum’s quest to win his first National Basketball Association championship came to a disappointing end when the veteran Golden State Warriors defeated the Boston Celtics in six games to win its fourth world title in eight seasons.

Superstar guard Steph Curry cemented his legacy as one of the best players ever as he led the Warriors to yet another championship. The Warriors also used a staunch defense, led by forward Andrew Wiggins, to bottle up Tatum and hold the St. Louisan to his lowest offensive output of the postseason. He finished with just 13 points in the series finale.

Although the season ended on a bitter note, it was otherwise a breakthrough year for Tatum. He established himself as one of the league’s best players at 24 years of age. As a fellow St. Louisan, it was exhilarating to see a local kid play such a prominent role in a team’s run to the NBA Finals.

We’ve seen local players such as Patrick McCaw, David Lee, Robin Jones, and David Thirdkill earn well-deserved championship rings, but Tatum is the first player from “The STL” to lead a team on such a postseason run since JoJo White, who was a major player on those Celtics’ championship teams in the 1970’s. That’s a long time between drinks of water and I enjoyed every minute of it, regardless of the ending.

Tatum’s success began late last summer when he helped lead the USA to a gold medal at the Olympic games in Tokyo. He was the team’s second leading scorer behind Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant. Tatum’s summer success carried over to the regular season when he enjoyed career-high numbers across the board.

He averaged 26.9 points, 8 rebounds and 4.4 assists while shooting 45 percent from the field, 35 percent from 3-point range and 85 percent from the free throw line. For his effort, he was chosen to the All-NBA First Team for the first time.

The regular-season success was just the beginning as he went on a remarkable playoff run to lead the Celtics to the Eastern Conference title and the franchise’s first berth in the finals since 2008. Tatum went toe-to-toe with star players including Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jimmy Butler en route to his first appearance in the finals. He was the youngest player ever to tally score 600 points, 100 rebounds and 100 assists in a single postseason. 

The game that moved Tatum into that next level of stardom was Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals at Milwaukee against the world champion Bucks. With the Celtics trailing in the series 3-2 and facing elimination, Tatum produced a 46-point, nine-rebound masterpiece to keep the Celtics’ season alive and bring the series back to Boston, where they easily won a Game 7. Tatum was able to counter Antetokounmpo’s massive 44-point, 20-rebound performance with his own career effort. In the Eastern Conference finals against Miami, Tatum earned the first ever Larry Bird Trophy as the Most Valuable Player after the Celtics’ series win in seven games.

Tatum’s rough experience in his first championship series will serve him well as his career continues to ascend to the next level. and hopefully compete for titles in the future. As history as shown, these are the growing pains that many of the league’s stars have experienced on their way to a championship. It’s been a pay your dues and wait your turn league through history. Many stars had to wait several years and endure a lot of heartbreak before tasting the champagne for the first time. So, as you continue to watch the vitriolic, over the top criticism of Tatum’s finals performance on television and social media, these are a few things to keep in mind. 

To give you a historic perspective, Tatum was trying to accomplish something that is rare. He is a young player leading a young team on a path to a world championship. Tatum is 24 and his co-star Jaylen Brown is 25. A pair of under-25’s leading a franchise to a championship is next to impossible and the Celtics were two games away from doing it.

The last team to try this feat was Oklahoma City in 2012 with the big three of Kevin Durant (24), Russell Westbrook (24) and James Harden (22) driving the bus. The Thunder lost to the LeBron James-led Miami Heat in five games. Before that, it was 1995 when Shaquille O’Neal and Penny Hardaway, both 23, led the Orlando Magic to the finals. They were swept by the defending champion Houston Rockets, who were led by veterans Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler.

The young stars who were able to win a world title were usually accompanied by an older, veteran star. In 1971, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar led the Bucks to the championship in his second year with veteran star Oscar Robertson as his sidekick.

In 1980, Magic Johnson was a 20-year-old rookie who led the Los Angeles Lakers to the championship. Jabbar was a 10-year veteran on that team and still a superstar.

In 1999, when Tim Duncan led the San Antonio Spurs to the title in his second year, it was veteran star David Robinson right by his side in the Twin Towers set. Kobe Bryant was 22 when he won his first title with the Lakers and Dwyane Wade was 24 when he led the Miami Heat to the championship.

Both had Shaquille O’Neal roaming the paint on those championship teams. Larry Bird was 25 when he led the Celtics to the championship in 1981. He was accompanied by the likes of Nate “Tiny” Archibald (33) and Robert Parish (27), both future Hall of Famers.

Let me take you back to 1957 when a rookie named Bill Russell led the Celtics to their first world title at 23 years old. Also on that team were All-Stars Bob Cousy (28) and Bill Sharman (30), who both averaged 20 points a game.