Jayson Tatum already has plenty of recognition when it comes to accolades, but he is still waiting for the recognition from fans to follow.
The Boston Celtics star Tatum spoke this week in an interview with Michael Lee of the Washington Post. During the interview, Tatum said that he feels underappreciated by fans and gave his reasons why.
“Honestly, no,” said Tatum when asked if he feels properly appreciated. “If you took the name and the face away from all my accomplishments and you’re just like, ‘This is what this Player A accomplished at 26,’ people would talk about [me] a lot differently.
“I don’t really want to insert myself in things that can be debated,” Tatum added. “Did he win a championship? Yes. Did he win gold medals? Yes. Was he always a part of winning seasons? Was he First Team All-NBA? Those are things that you know are hard evidence. Yes or no. Face of the NBA? They can always debate. But it’s like, I check off all the boxes.”
Tatum is correct that he already has a very impressive resume at 26 years old. Now in his eighth NBA season, Tatum is a six-time All-Star, a four-time All-NBA selection (including three First Team nods), and a career 23.4-point-per-game scorer (15th among all active players). Last season, Tatum also added what felt like the final missing piece by helping lead the Celtics to an NBA championship.
But it is safe to say that Tatum will probably never be the face of the NBA, in part because he simply lacks charisma. Tatum can sometimes come across as charmless and inauthentic and usually only makes the headlines for his corny or otherwise cringeworthy antics (including after Boston won it all last year). Tatum is also an extremely well-rounded overall player … but lacks one defining characteristic in his game (as well as in his personality for that matter) that would set him apart from other NBA stars and allow the younger generations to idolize him.
As for this season, Tatum has continued to shine with 26.6 points, 8.7 rebounds, and a career-high 5.8 assists per game for the 42-17 Celtics. But Tatum needs much more of an “it” factor, beyond what he can produce on the court, in order for him to truly (if ever) resonate with the fans.
