Not invited to the championship parade, but still couldn’t be any happier for the championship itself. “Not our moment” — Kendrick Perkins already stated he would not have attended the parade even if he had received the invite. This also addressed the prevailing rumors that there was a ban against Perk from attending the parade. But how does the ex-Boston Celtics star view Jayson Tatum & Co.’s 2024 win now that some time has passed, and he has processed everything associated with it?

In a 1-on-1 interview with Fron Office Sports, Perk termed the championship win as “fulfilling”. He further highlighted the adversity that Tatum and Jaylen Brown had been going through for the past few years. “From falling short to finally see them get over the hump was a beautiful thing to see,” Perk said.

Tatum and Brown have all the appreciation now that the two have won a championship. It took 107 playoff games together, the most for a duo, before attaining the feat. Things were not very smooth if we go back not long enough, just the last two seasons for the players in discussion.

A common narrative against Tatum was that he could not step up and help his team win when needed the most. Many believed that his poor shooting skills cost the Celtics expensively in times of need. As for Brown, his 8 turnovers in the Game 7 loss against the Miami Heat in season 2022-23 made JB a meme material in the corridors of interest. Want to hear something surprising, though? Both these stars had better numbers in their 2022-23 regular season run as compared to their championship season.

In fact, Tatum had better stats in 2023 post-season as well, when compared with the championship winning year. He averaged 27.2 points, 10.5 rebounds at 45.8 percent shooting from the field during the former. As compared to his 25 points, 9.7 rebounds per game at 42.7 percent shooting from the field this past campaign. However, Brown witnessed some improvement in 2023-24 postseason.

Going back even further, 2021-22 witnessed more or less similar numbers by the players as this championship season did. But it’s hilarious how better circumstances make your usual work shine brighter.

Jayson Tatum reveals the first instance he knew the Championship was their’s

Have you ever wondered when athletes know they’re destined to win it all? During a recent event at the Maynard Fine Arts Theater in Massachusetts, Tatum shared the first instance when the thought of winning a championship really hit him. The spark? Not the Celtics’ own dominance, but the shocking elimination of the defending champion Denver Nuggets by the Minnesota Timberwolves.

“When Minnesota beat Denver, I felt like Denver was the only team that they matched up best with us. I thought that we were going to play Denver in the Finals and it was going to be a good one,” Tatum said. The Nuggets — a team that had swept the Celtics during the regular season, were the one opponent the 5x All Star seemed wary of.

Nuggets’ narrow victories over Boston (102-100 in January and 115-109 in March) had positioned them as a formidable Finals contender. However, the Timberwolves’ upset shifted the landscape entirely. For Jayson Tatum, the certainty grew stronger as the Celtics charged through the NBA Finals. After taking a commanding 3-0 lead over the Dallas Mavericks, he knew history was on their side.

Stay tuned for more updates. Join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host, BG12, sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger.