Jun 17, 2024, 10:47 p.m.
Jayson Tatum changed his skin this Monday night. His first title with the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks was, in itself, a lesson. In this era of extreme immediacy, of the abundance of almost everything, There is only one thing that is in short supply: patience.
Tatum, only 26 years old, is the perfect example that things don’t happen overnight. Victories take time. They need maturation. Rome was not built in a day: an appropriate ecosystem is required, a group that knows how to do things very well, so that the artist can adjust expectations with reality.
The Celtics are one of the fairest champions in history
. They were the best in the regular season and won the playoffs with great ease. Without any surprises, almost at a trot. With Kristaps Porzingis largely out of these playoffs, Joe Mazzulla built a real team in which everyone fulfilled their role to perfection.
A group that raised the flag of defense in all its forms and that punished the other side with all ten available hands. Strong attack at the rim, points from the ball carrier or unloading on an open shooter. Simple formula said this way, but executed seamlessly.
We said it before, we repeat it now: no one is better than all of us together.
Between so much well-deserved praise, between so much galley and cane basketball, I choose tonight to talk about Tatum. We spent the season cheering Nikola Jokic, Anthony Edwards, Luka Doncic, Giannis Antetokoumpo and other stars. The best, however, ended up being this boy, for what he did on the field, but much more than that for what he allowed the rest to do.
Tatum, in this postseason, became a true leader. She took a step back so that others could be better. A gentleman of the game, respectful, polite, supportive and with a view of the team that puts him in line with the best in the history of a franchise that, with 18 championships in its ranks, knows very well what it means to win.
Tatum’s frustrations have been many in recent years. One of the most painful, the loss to the Miami Heat in the Conference Finals last year. Chew anger, read reviews, and start again. He never looked for blame or excuses. Every summer he was up and trying again.
Brad Stevens got Jrue Holiday and Porzingis as key championship pieces, but Tatum chose (yes, I emphasize this concept, he chose) for the Celtics to be a team with all the letters. He, as ship captain, gave way to prominence. He forgot about his personal numbers and decided to be a game catalyst instead of a pure scorer. He experienced that movie of putting himself in a hero’s position before and it only pushed him to endure defeats.
This last game of the season, this great performance in the fifth and decisive game of the NBA Finals, clearly shows us the quality of player that Tatum is. That is to say, when he wants, he can. But his experience taught him something: to win, in this sport, you cannot do it alone. He couldn’t go back to back with Jaylen Brown in previous years: he needed others. He, his teammates, the coaching staff and the management knew it, of tremendous work.
That is the lesson that Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving will surely take away from this definition. And Mark Cuban too: to enjoy a Larry O’Brien trophy it takes much more than two inspired geniuses. Miracles in basketball don’t happen: they are built.
Welcome, then, to Jayson Tatum’s transformation from caterpillar to butterfly. The decision to make others better pushed him to become much better himself. Out of the lights, Tatum laid the bricks needed to make this happen. A lot of humility is needed in the process: “Work hard in silence and let success make all the noise”.
In the final hug with Brown they left behind, together, a heavy, rocky backpack, difficult to carry. Goodbye to the recurring question of whether they have what it takes. Enough: they have it and possibly they will have it again. This had to be done and it was done. In Tatum’s tears there is happiness, but also relief.
And in the final applause to Brown, chosen Finals MVP, there is recognition. There is a smile of sincere joy. That is Tatum’s great message for all the stars looking to win a title: a score makes one person happy, an assist makes two. The only trophy that matters, for which each player will be remembered, is the championship.. The rest are decorations for libraries.
From Bill Russell to Larry Bird. From Paul Pierce to Tatum. The Celtics are, once again, the winningest franchise in NBA history with 18 championships won..
“He who does not believe in anyone knows that he cannot trust himself”, Red Auerbach once said. Any similarity to Tatum is purely coincidental.
16 years after the last cry, the Celtic sky is celebrating again. Somewhere lost in time, a cigar will be lit. With the smoke in the background, the infinite maxim shelters us again: “The Boston Celtics are not a basketball team. It’s a lifestyle”.
Like yesterday, like today, like always, it takes a while to arrive, but in the end, there is a reward.
