A lot looms around the reputation of Jayson Tatum. He isn’t as outspoken or elusive as the other greats. He quietly minds his own and doesn’t push any narrative for his success. Yet, he recently made one thing clear about his motivation. “The truth is, I envision myself as one of those guys—the LeBron, Steph, KDs. I want the next generation to view me as that,” Tatum revealed. But the question is, is that possible with his current stature?

To resonate with the all-time greats of the NBA, there’s generally one theme. Each of them is vocal, not necessarily arrogant. However, they have had their moments of brandishing their egos too. But with Tatum, even after a chip, he didn’t aim for the doubters. The Celtics ace only participated in the celebrations without spawning any controversy.

That has landed him in the shadows even though he’s a six-time All-Star and a reigning First-Team forward. That’s what confuses DeMarcus Cousins. “I don’t even understand the negativity that flits around his name,” he said on Run It Back. At the same time, Lou Williams understood why that happens, and he compared his case to legendary Spurs Tim Duncan.

“Even to this day we still don’t talk about Tim Duncan in the same breath as a lot of our legends… And Jayson Tatum is a victim of that because he’s done nothing wrong. He’s only went out and did his job and competed at a high level and ran up accolades. For some reason we overlook him or he doesn’t play in the Olympics,” Williams said about Tatum.

From a resume standpoint, Duncan only lost once in the NBA Finals. He’s won it five times. Inside the basketball fraternity, many icons claim he is the greatest forward to have played. However, because of his secluded nature, he isn’t present in the media circles. Tatum is sailing in that boat.

He won’t boast about his achievements or push his case. However, Jayson Tatum remains among the best players in the league. He’s averaging 26.8 points and a career-high 5.7 assists this season. His dedication and constant yearning to keep improving are visible each year. And if he continues down this trajectory, his vision isn’t far.

Jayson Tatum has what it takes

Although Jayson Tatum is soft-spoken, he has stuffed his resume since his college days. “I feel like you can start a conversation with everybody and ask, you know, how would you feel if your career started off like Jayson Tatum? I think everybody would say yes,” DeMarcus Cousins said about the Celtics star.

Coming into a Celtics team that has always stayed in the championship hunt, Tatum was bred into a culture of winning. Through his ascension, he had to evade several obstructions. Last season, many credible analysts pinned him against Jaylen Brown. Even the Run It Back crew did so, for which they duly apologized during the segment.

In the face of such scrutiny, JT has only had one answer. He’s responded by building success. Of course, with just one championship and only half of his career, it’s too soon to put him on the same list as LeBron James or Curry. But if you talk about a path, Durant and James didn’t have a title at 26. Curry had one, the same as Tatum.

And in terms of his contributions until this point, Tatum has amassed 13,298 points. It’s barely a thousand points shy of KD’s total points. Hence, if we speak solely on those facts, the star forward is off to a racing start. And Tatum also leads off the court with his marketing and charitable works.

In terms of impact on the future generation, it’s too soon to say right now how Tatum’s footprints will stick to them. But his game is proficient and a pleasure to watch. Jayson Tatum scores effortlessly and willingly sacrifices. Furthermore, he has set the culture in Boston to be synonymous with winning, making amends to his defensive stronghold and play style to catapult the team.

Those are the qualities of a star who will do whatever it takes to win. It’s no different than the icons who passed the game onto him. So his comments by no means are exaggerated. It’s a realistic possibility given Jayson Tatum continues down his supreme trajectory.