Draymond Green, Who Hurt Jayson Tatum’s Dream Once, Is Part Of An Exclusive Circle That’s Happy For Celtics Star

Gather around people, because history is much likely to repeat itself in the upcoming days! It has been over 16 years since the Boston Celtics got the chance to hoist up the Larry O’Brien trophy and be regarded as NBA Champions. Now, thanks to the efforts of lead scorer Jayson Tatum and his roster, the franchise recently recorded their third consecutive win against the Dallas Mavericks in the ongoing NBA Finals. One more win and the championship ring will be theirs. Thanks to this, and the individual effort of Jayson Tatum who played a role in this, seems to have convinced Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green to change his tune.

A few hours ago, Green released another episode of his long-running podcast. Touching base on the Celtics’ Game 3 win, he highlighted his happiness over the fact that so many deserving players from the franchise will be finally receiving their due. He also briefly placed special emphasis on Jayson Tatum by stating “Happy for my brother JT, he gonna get a ring”.

Draymond Green’s voice of support for Jayson Tatum comes barely a few months after he engaged in an opposite action. Back in February, the buzz around the NBA world was circulating over who would take home the coveted MVP title. While the names of Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic were being put up as the top picks, Jayson Tatum was not reportedly occupying the top spots. The Warrior’s power forward highlighted this issue on his podcast, stating that the MVP was earlier chosen looking at the concept of “That team is winning and that guy’s the best player and playing well”.

However, with the Celtics occupying one of the top seeds on the points table and Tatum still not getting his recognition, Green formed the opinion that the goalpost has now changed. “JT will not be taken serious for the MVP until he win a championship” said the 34-year-old. “Young fella, I don’t know how the goalposts moved on you like that, but they should acknowledge it, because those are the facts”.

Winning MVP has certainly been Jayson Tatum’s dream, given that he acknowledged the same during a 2022 interview with SLAM. While Green’s statement may have been hurtful, it may have also carried some truth to it. Since the player is now just one win away from securing his first championship title, he has now won Draymond Green’s confidence and, at the same time, set the MVP path for himself next season.

Which other NBA members are happy for Jayson Tatum?

Draymond Green is not the only individual from the NBA fraternity who is happy with Jayson Tatum’s success. Even before the Warriors star sent out his support, the player has had the backing of several members of the NBA fraternity towards his championship journey.

Amongst the most prominent supporters of the Celtics star is former NBA player Kevin Garnett. Long-time basketball fans may know him as the player responsible for bringing home the Celtics’ 2008 championship win. Back in May, as the Celtics were advancing to the next stage of the tournament, the 48-year-old highlighted on his KG Certified podcast that having a championship win to his belt is going to elevate Tatum to a whole new level. After all, who better to know this than another NBA champion?

“It’s a thousand n****s that I think I’m better than, but at the end of the day, they’re going to ask, ‘Man, what’d he win?’” said Garnett. “If you ain’t win nothing, they’re gonna put you in a certain conversation and that’s just how it go”. He further added, “If Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics win this year, it’s officially lit”.

Paul Pierce was another member of the elite 2008 Celtics roster who sent out his praise for the 5x NBA All-Star. While certain individuals debate on whether it is Jaylen Brown or Jayson Tatum who is the most vital for the modern Celtics roster, Pierce has been clear on his choice. It was barely a couple of weeks ago when he stated “Jayson Tatum, at his best, is probably the best player in the NBA. … He is leading the team in points, rebounds and assists and they are 4-0, over the last four playoff games. … I think he is the head of the snake”.

Unlike Pierce, Shaquille O’Neal did not want to choose his favorite pick. This was because of his days playing for the Lakers, Shaq was caught up in a similar debate with the late Kobe Bryant as his ‘competitor’.  Therefore, he advised both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to not worry about useless titles since “not only will it affect this game, but they will lose the series.”

Before leaving, be sure to check out some insights that Shaquille O’Neal’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, shared about WNBA star rookies Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark.