Does Celtics Star Jayson Tatum Still Need to Prove Anything?

Does the superstar player have anything left to prove to the rest of the NBA?

Feb 16, 2025; San Francisco, CA, USA; Shaqís OGs forward Jayson Tatum (0) of the Boston Celtics high fives Shaqís OGs guard Kyrie Irving (11) of the Dallas Mavericks after winning the 2025 NBA All Star Game at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

It took them a while, but the Boston Celtics were finally able to build an NBA championship team. They won the title last year after years of laying a foundation.

Jayson Tatum is part of that foundation. He was taken third overall in the 2017 NBA Draft and has turned out to be by far the best player in that draft.

Tatum was paired with Jaylen Brown to create the foundation of the current Celtics. Over the years, they added some pieces to make them better.

Last year, the trades to add Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis made them title contenders. They won the title and are now one of the favorites to win it again this year.

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Tatum has been considered the best player on the Celtics for a while now. Even though he didn't win the NBA Finals MVP or even the Eastern Conference Finals MVP, he is considered better than Brown.

Now that he's won a championship, does he have anything more to prove? The answer is yes, and the prime example of why happened over the summer.

Last summer, Tatum decided to play in the Olympics for Team USA. He was coming off a title and was considered a top-five player in the NBA.

Despite that, he hardly played. He wasn't considered part of the rotation for that team. Only he and Tyrese Haliburton were held out of the games that mattered.

That clearly made Tatum mad. He came into this season with a renewed emphasis on his 3-point shot, which was one of the reasons that he didn't play a lot for Team USA.

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Despite the fact that Tatum has made three straight First-team All-NBA teams, he still wasn't considered good enough to play a lot of minutes on Team USA. That shows he clearly still has doubters.

Tatum also wants to be considered the best player in the league, not just the fifth-best. He needs to show that he can lead the Celtics to more titles if he wants that crown.

As long as he can stay healthy, he looks like he will be in prime position to do just that for the next five years.

So far this season, Tatum is averaging 27 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 5.6 assists per game.

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