Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics silenced the naysayers last season. They won the elusive NBA championship, marking the franchise’s record 18th title. Still, fans weren’t satisfied. Tatum idolized Kobe Bryant growing up. The Black Mamba exuded a strong competitive edge. And by personality, he was always demanding more which could be perceived as being mean. That’s how the fans wanted Tatum to do after he won the NBA title. But that’s not him.

In fact, it’s never been him. Tatum has always been a likable personality, treating his teammates with respect and inclusion. Somehow that has been used against him. People question his hunger as he lacks individual accolades or the cold-heartedness when on the big stage. However, while that needs motivation to prove others wrong, JT is completely different.

Drew Hanlen, a coach who has worked with him recently invited Tatum to a book signing event. That’s when he saw the true character of Jayson Tatum. Responding to the chance to get even with those who doubted him, the Celtics linchpin told the crowd “Everyone thought that when I won the championship, I was going to be on the podium, having receipts and basically putting up a middle finger to everybody that doubted me, everybody that criticized me, everybody. That’s when you should do it,” Hanlen recalled.

But Tatum doesn’t play in order to prove people wrong. In his heart, Tatum wants his achievement to be a celebration of those who invested in him and believed he could be the elite player that he has become. “He was like, to be honest with you, at that moment, I realized I was never playing to prove them wrong. All I’ve been doing it playing to prove all the people that have supported me sacrifice for me, prove them right,” Drew Hanlen said on Hoop Collective.

That includes his various coaches, a mother who attended college with an infant Tatum in class with her. And most importantly, it includes his teammates. Hanlen is convinced that if Jayson Tatum did play to squash narratives, he could be the MVP of the league. Yet, all that matters to him is winning championships. And for that he is willing to sacrifice as much as it takes.

So although it was Jaylen Brown who won Finals MVP, the Celtics keystone didn’t mind. He was elated at what they achieved together, which was a championship. And his aim is to continue winning more. Because even his favorite player didn’t stack up MVPs. “That doesn’t mean they weren’t one of the best players of all time,” Hanlen stated.

Jayson Tatum continued to sacrifice in Paris

Even though returning to the Olympics as a champion and elected into the All-NBA First Team, in Paris, Jayson Tatum remained grounded. The sporadic playing time must have frustrated him. However, all he did was stay ready for his number to be called. He didn’t give coach Kerr any difficulties regarding his controversial decision.

That allowed for a smooth functioning team, and the end result was a second gold medal for Jayson Tatum.

Many expected that would be a major storyline of Netflix’s ‘Court of Gold’. Team USA is one of the teams that had cameras follow them everywhere. However, to the director Jake Rogel that didn’t fit the story he wanted to build. The ‘Court of Gold’ is primed to decipher what winning at the Olympics would mean for every team.

In one of the episodes, Steve Kerr could be seen addressing the team about playing time. He openly admitted it would be hard to fit 12 Hall of Famers in a condensed 40 minute game. During filming, Rogal did start with the Tatum situation. However, the story didn’t have any connection to the plot of the documentary.

“We talked to coach Kerr about it and we felt like that was a respectful place to start. Because you want to be respectful of the process and not embarrass somebody. We never tried to go to Jayson with anything. We talked to Kerr about it, and let him talk about it, which he did. While it was a big story at the time, it wasn’t what we were trying to do with the doc because we were explaining how these countries got to where they are. So while it was dramatic from an NBA storyline, it didn’t really fit into the storyline of what we’re trying to do,” Rogal told HoopsHype.

Regardless of it being part of it or not, the incident was another precedent of Jayson Tatum’s selflessness. For the greater good of the team, nothing is off limits. While the experience has cast some doubts over his future participation, if Tatum is fit to help the team, he might be present in Los Angeles.