The Boston Celtics were unscathed by the Charlotte Hornets. The win came comfortably. However, the end stole the spotlight away from their great performance. Irritation had Grant Williams ‘body check’ his former teammate Jayson Tatum, beginning a spiral of ugly events. After the game, Jaylen Brown wasn’t too happy. “He hit him like it was a football play, Ray Lewis coming across the middle or something,” he said. However, Joe Mazzulla, the head coach, saw a true character in that play.

Just days before the game, the Celtics’ enigmatic boss spoke about the return of fighting to the NBA. “The biggest thing that we rob people of from an entertainment standpoint is you can’t fight anymore. I wish we’d bring back like fighting,” he told NBC Boston.

Stephen A. Smith then explained the business loss the NBA could suffer and extreme physicality “will never happen again.” “If you don’t tow a line in some way, shape, form, or fashion, they’re (potential advertisers) not going to do business with you.” Yet, the senior analyst’s wishes were answered by the Celtics.

However, rather than expressing pleasure over their rivals’ brutality, Mazzulla saw a “big time” mentality from his cornerstone.

“What I like most is how he jumped right up, didn’t lay around, it didn’t really faze him. Just got right up, went to the foul line, and did his business. I just like how JT handled it. It was great. To get hit like that, pop right back up, it’s big time,” the head coach noted in his post-game conference.

After sustaining the hard foul, worthy of an immediate ejection, JT didn’t indulge in any confrontation. Joe Mazzulla made his thoughts clear. “I loved it,” he said of the physicality of the game. But Jayson Tatum’s focus was locked on closing the game out.

The hooper got up and walked to the free-throw line, not saying a word to his former teammate. After the game, however, Grant Williams did defend himself, claiming his intentions weren’t to hurt one of his “closest friends in the league.”

While that can be debated, it’s hard to argue against Jayson Tatum’s intentions this season. Even after a championship, the chip on his shoulder has never been bigger. And his performances thus far indicate one thing.

Jayson Tatum is playing like an MVP

The poise Tatum showed wasn’t the first time he did so. His summer, even though adorned with a championship, was far from emphatic. In the Paris Olympics, he sat many of the games, harboring scrutiny from the basketball community. Yet, he made his goals known. He wanted the MVP. Before the season, given how the C’s were formed, it was difficult to recognize his individual impact. But to start this campaign, he has been a savage. It seems Mazzulla saw through his Paris benching. He had a great reason to be happy.

In 6 games, Tatum has scored 30+ four times, including the game against the Hornets. His 30.5 points ranked the 3rd highest. But that’s not the only facet of the game, he’s managed to showcase. Defensively, the C’s foundational star’s taken an improbable leap. He is averaging 2.2 steals per game! Never has he averaged over 1.4, setting the tone for being acknowledged as a true two-way forward.

The fight to get to this point has been hard. His shot needed repairing. Jayson Tatum had to battle against the voices of naysayers and keep trusting the process. Putting in two workouts daily since returning from the Paris Olympics, the results are blooming in front of the NBA audience. The hooper is shooting a career-high from the field while averaging the most points he ever has so far.

By the looks of him and his demeanor, it doesn’t seem to be a prolific start to the season but rather the benchmark he has set for himself. If this continues, it’s hard to overlook him as the next MVP of the league. If the hooper does manage to attain the elusive accolade, where will his legacy stack up among the Celtic greats? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.