Jayson Tatum ended up receiving a lot of criticism for his failure to impact a game but Smith was adamant that one series does not define his talent and that he has a bright future ahead of him.
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Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum had a rough NBA Finals and he could not do anything as his team went down to Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors. Ever since then, Tatum has been criticized for his poor showing but he has now found support from none other than veteran NBA analyst, Stephen A. Smith. Smith brought out examples of legends like Isiah Thomas and Larry Bird who also did not have good Finals debuts. Smith reflected on Tatum’s numbers and said that the 24-year-old has a lot more to learn in his career.
Jayson Tatum should NOT be getting all this heat. pic.twitter.com/TJgZaGOfhX
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) June 17, 2022
Speaking on Stephen A’s World, he said, “There ain’t no way he should be getting all this heat, all of it, but some of it, of course. Now, did Jayson Tatum underperform in the finals, did he disappear at times on the big stage? Without question y’all, without a doubt. Shot just 31.6% on two-pointers in the series, the worst by any player with at least 75 field goal attempts in the last 60 finals. And that’s bad dammit, that’s bad, he also had a record 100 turnovers this postseason, that’s really bad. But there ain’t no way we should be burying this kid just yet.”
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Against the Warriors in the finals, Tatum averaged 21.5 points, 7 assists and 6.8 rebounds in six games. On any other given date and time, those are great numbers but if you compare them to the lofty standards that Tatum had set for himself, then it is a paltry return. He ended up receiving a lot of criticism for his failure to impact a game but Smith was adamant that one series does not define his talent and that he has a bright future ahead of him.
In the same segment, Smith said, “Don’t forget in Larry Bird’s first Finals, he scored eight points in two different games, in Isaiah Thomas’ first Finals, he had two games with just 10 points. Had another game with seven turnovers and how’d they turn out all the greats have growing pains. I am not ready to say Jayson Tatum is a player anywhere near their level but he’s only 24, 6-9 with a mid-range game. All that stuff he’s got time to look in the mirror and reflect on this. He can grow from it and get better.”
