Boston Celtics: OTD in 2018 Jayson Tatum baptized LeBron James

Though they still managed to bypass a losing record on the year and find themselves in the midst of their seventh-straight playoff appearance, the 2020-21 season was an absolute disappointment for the Boston Celtics and their fanbase.

After making it to within two games of attaining their first NBA Finals berth in over a decade last season whilst playing down in the Lake Buena Vista bubble, the shamrocks came into this campaign with lofty expectations and were even listed by Vegas as having the fourth-best odds to win it all come year’s end.

Of course, due to copious amounts of injuries and COVID-19 related health predicaments, the Cs never seemed to get in synch, which played a huge factor in their underwhelming .500 record of 36-36, their seventh-place finish in the Eastern Conference standings, and, now, will likely lead to them finishing on the less-desirable end of a first-round series sweep against the Brooklyn Nets.

While this is the first time they find themselves playing late-May basketball since the 2017-18 campaign, they are far from the team that brought the defending NBA Champions, the Cleveland Cavaliers, to within the final minutes of Game Seven during their improbable Eastern Conference Finals run.

The one similarity between that team and this current one is that Jayson Tatum finds himself leading the charge in the postseason for the Boston Celtics, though, back then, it was a bit surprising as he was a mere rookie who was thrust into a larger role after their then star free-agent acquisition, Gordon Hayward, went down in the first game of the season.

Now, as an established two-time NBA All-Star and, likely, looking at his second All-NBA selection come year’s end, this status within the rotation is to be expected.

However, what’s interesting about his current reputation in comparison to his stupendous rookie campaign is that, no matter what he manages to do between now and through the end of his career, what Boston Celtics fans will always have at, or close to the forefront of their minds is the poster dunk that he jammed down on NBA Megastar, LeBron James, late in the fourth quarter of their final game against the Cavs in the 2018 Conference Finals.

For those of you who don’t know, that jam flushed down on this date three years ago.

While the Cs ended up losing this bout, a young star in Tatum was officially born under the bright lights of the biggest game of the season, as he finished the night with 24 points, seven boards, and a steal on 53 percent shooting from the field.

Though it may be easy for fans to sulk about this current season at hand, we mustn’t forget the great success we’ve seen from this ball club throughout the last several years.

We at the Houdini are certainly thankful for the unbelievably successful past the Boston Celtics have had and, with the likes of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown in the fold moving forward, the future can still prove to be just as bright as the past, and just and memorable as this dunk.