Boston Celtics: Jayson Tatum likes what he sees of SlamBall

Many old-heads think the headline names of today’s game are “soft” compared to the stars of yesteryear. Boston Celtics All-Star Jayson Tatum doesn’t seem afraid of the idea of violence, though.

Tatum, one of the smoothest isolation players in the game in the year 2021, doesn’t have the most physical playstyle, but he certainly isn’t afraid of contact.

While his game is predicated on a bag of tricks that include step-backs, fadeaways, and side-steps as opposed to brute force, the modified basketball contact sport, SlamBall, got quite the reaction out of the 23-year-old 2x All-Star.

Apparently, Tatum liked Overtime’s clip of the then-SpikeTV (now Paramount Network) show shared on Twitter:

For those that don’t remember catching SlamBall ads during Monday Night Raw commercial breaks as a youth, the sport was what happened if you took hockey rules and trampolines and applied them to basketball.

It was awesome.

SlamBall didn’t require the same skills as traditional hoops does, as sheer physicality and jumping ability are the main tools required to succeed. Many of Tatum’s dribble-moves would be obsolete, although his ability to posterize  defenders (like LeBron James in the 2018 ECF) would certainly come in handy.

Tatum’s approval of SlamBall shows a few things. First, how old do you feel since Tatum said “this (is) fire” as if he didn’t watch the show back in the day? Just me?

Secondly, those penalizing the players of today for being “soft” should take note at Tatum’s comment. Does he seem like someone that is afraid of contact? Perhaps we can stop punishing players for simply playing by the rules of today, since most of them aren’t the ones who made the calls to eliminate hand-checking and generally officiate games tighter.

Either way, Hardwood Houdini believes Boston Celtics stars Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and (especially) Marcus Smart would be SlamBall studs if they ever entered a SlamBall arena.