The Boston Celtics are in the NBA finals after 12 years, last featuring in the finals in 2010. They are the side with the most NBA championships, tied with the Los Angeles Lakers (17). This year they have the chance to win their 18th ring. Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart have been some of the standout performers this season.

Tatum has truly found his form this season. He has led from the front and has been effective all season. He has been in good form as has been the whole team. Although he has been on the rise for quite some while now, in 2021-22 he has truly established himself as one of the stars of the NBA.

Last season he was not rated highly by the hosts of Inside the NBA. Shaquille O?Neal, Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, and Charles Barkley only saw him as a reserve for the 2021 NBA All-Star game. In fact, Shaq and Chuck did not even feature him in their reserve list. To this Tatum had a fitting and respectful reply.

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?I mean, I?m sure some people last year didn?t have me on there ? But, I mean, everybody has their own respective opinion,? Tatum said in 2021. ?I mean, I didn?t see it. So everybody has their opinion on who they think should make it. There?s a lot of guys that deserve to make it. And we?ll see.? The three words ?and we?ll see? aged well for him, as barely a year later, the Celtics are in the finals and he? hasearned the praise of all four of them through the season.

Jayson Tatum and Boston Celtics? dream run

The Celtics finished the regular season second seed with a record of 51-31. Through the regular season, Tatum averaged 26.9 points, 8 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game.

In the 22 games played in the playoffs, he has averaged 26.1 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 6.2 assists. He won the Eastern Conference finals MVP as the Celtics entered the finals. In the finals, he has performed in each of the 4 games. He has been averaging 22.2 in 4 games till now. Only Steph has performed better than him in 4 games till now.

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But he would still need a couple of inspired performances to lead the Celtics to the NBA title which would be their 18th NBA title but only the first since 2008.