Jayson Tatum is entering Team USA camp with a spring in his step after winning the NBA championship.
He feels as though a weight has been lifted off his shoulders since the expectations placed upon him were fulfilled.
“A hundred percent,” Tatum told ESPN. “Just being at the topic of discussion of so many debates or whatever it is … ‘Can he lead a team? Is he a top-five player?’
“There’s still a lot of things I guess they can debate. But now I’ve done something that they can’t debate: I’ve won a championship. Having that under my belt, like obviously it’s still conversations to be had or whatever people want to say, but they always got to refer to me as an NBA champion.”
There was plenty of chatter surrounding the C’s forward and what winning an NBA championship would mean for his legacy.
Due to his inconsistent performances throughout the series against Dallas, Tatum wasn’t crowned Finals MVP.
That honor went to his running mate, Jaylen Brown. But as Tatum said, no one can take the title away from him.
Even though Tatum’s focus is on winning gold with Team USA, his Celtics coach back home is ready to defend the franchise’s title.
“Joe is already trying to draw up sh*t for next season,” Tatum said. “And I was like, ‘Joe, f*ck that. We just won a championship. Enjoy it. Relax.’
“Like, I’m not worried about any sets that he’s trying to put in right now. We had a laugh about it, because he’s just so driven — which we all are, but it’s like, man, we worked so hard for this. So we got to enjoy it.”
