Celtics
As Tatum and the Celtics prepare to face Irving in the NBA Finals, Boston’s star shared he learned lessons from the disappointing 2018-19 season.
Kyrie Irving’s time in Boston didn’t end on the prettiest note, with the star point guard being the leader of a team that underachieved in 2018-19 before leaving in free agency in the following offseason.
Yet, Jayson Tatum remembers the two years a bit more fondly. As the Celtics prepare to face Irving’s Mavericks in the NBA Finals, Tatum explained the valuable lessons he learned from his old teammate in his first two seasons in the league.
“Obviously, there were some ups and downs. But I think, for me, being a first, second-year player, being around a superstar, essentially, every day and seeing how to navigate that space,” Tatum told reporters. “And then obviously on the court, he’s one of the most talented guys I’ve ever seen. So it seems like a very long time ago but I’ve got a lot of great memories from having Kai as a teammate.”
Tatum’s comments on Saturday about Irving were in line with his previous statements on his former teammate following his departure. He also defended Irving, who also played basketball at Duke, when the veteran point guard called out the Celtics’ younger players when they hit a rough patch during the 2018-19 season.
However, Tatum admitted “[expletive] was terrible” when asked about that season in January following comments Gordon Hayward made on the disappointing year. While the Celtics finished 49-33, they were eliminated in the second round that season as they were the favorite to come out of the Eastern Conference and held the second-best odds to win the title entering the year.
This year’s Celtics squad has so lived up to the expectations, and in some ways is playing the way that many hoped the 2018-19 team would have played. They went 64-18 during the regular season with a top-five point differential in NBA history and are 12-2 so far this postseason.
Tatum shared that he learned some lessons from that underwhelming 2018-19 season, laying the blame on the disappointments from that year on everyone.
“Just learning that being on such a talented team, that it’s not just talent that’s going to take you over the top,” Tatum said. “You have to have guys that are willing to sacrifice, guys that are willing to do the other things for the team to have a chance. It wasn’t a Kyrie thing, it was all of us.
“We all took part in why that season wasn’t a success and we all learned from it. We all moved on. Some of us stayed here, other guys left and have done great things since that season. So I just look at that as a learning experience from my second year.”
Irving’s departure allowed Tatum to blossom into not only the Celtics’ top star, but also one of the game’s best players in the five years that have passed. Tatum’s finished in the top-six in MVP voting and has been named first-team All-NBA in each of the last three years. He’s also led the Celtics to four Eastern Conference finals appearances and two NBA Finals trips.
Irving, meanwhile, had a rocky 3.5-year stint with the Nets, forming a short-lived star trio with Kevin Durant and James Harden that appeared unstoppable. But they only played 16 games together, as injuries and Irving’s vaccination status got in the way. Following Harden’s departure, Irving shared antisemitic beliefs on social media that caused the Nets to suspend him during the 2022-23 season.
The last year has gone well for Irving after he signed a three-year deal to remain in Dallas. He scored 25.6 points per game in the regular season as he had his longest stretch without a missing game in eight years, remaining scandal-free.
Tatum, who said he still speaks with Irving “every once in a while,” senses that his former teammate is in a good spot.
“It does seem like Dallas, obviously, has been a great fit,” Tatum said. “They’re in the NBA Finals. The staff and the team, they all just kind of jelled together and it’s great. It’s great to see Kai out there playing at an extremely high level, doing all the special things that we love to see him do, and have fun doing it.”
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