Boston Celtics: GA believes Jayson Tatum will soon reach “Kobe level”

Seemingly as soon as he came into the league back in 2017, Boston Celtics fans have known just how special wing Jayson Tatum is and can be.

Now, heading into his fifth year in the association, not only are his talents heavily revered by the shamrock faithful but, frankly, all those who follow the world of NBA basketball.

Despite Boston enduring an overall lowly season in 2020-21, one in which they finished with their worst regular-season record (36-36) since 2014-15 and saw their first Quarterfinals exit since 2015-16, Tatum, yet again, saw himself rising the ranks of the league’s elite.

Through 64 games played, the forward posted stellar per-game averages of 26.4 points, 7.4 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 1.2 steals on 46 percent shooting from the floor and nearly 39 percent shooting from deep and, in turn, nabbed himself his second consecutive All-Star selection.

In the postseason, though the Boston Celtics ultimately were bounced by the Brooklyn Nets via gentleman’s sweep, Tatum brought his game to an even higher level, averaging 30.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 1.6 blocks per game.

At this point, the sky truly seems like the limit for the C’s cornerstone and, simply looking at this upcoming campaign, we at the Houdini are under the impression that he can easily put himself in the MVP conversation with a few tweaks both to his game and with the play of his supporting cast.

However, there are some who are looking a little past next season in regard to Tatum’s career trajectory, with some former players believing he could thrust himself into the stratosphere of some of the league’s all-time greats in just a few short years.

Recently, former All-Star and scoring aficionado, Gilbert Arenas, sat down with the folks at Whistle and broke down the young stud’s game. In doing so, he had unbelievably high praise for the 23-year-old, stating that within the next few years Tatum could realistically reach the dominating levels that Kobe Bryant once roamed at during his tenure in the league:

"“In two years, three years from now you’re going to see a player who’s dominating this game on a Kobe level, because he possesses all those intangibles that’s going to make him, you know, compared to that guy.”"

In further detail, Arenas went on to pinpoint these said intangibles that the Boston Celtics star seemingly shares with the first-ballot Hall of Famer:

"“Kobe was great at everything, mid-range, getting to his spot, and that’s what Tatum’s finding out he’s great at too: getting to his spot,” Arenas said. “No matter what the defense is giving you, you’re going to your destination and when you get there, you rise up and hit the shot.”"

Like the majority of Boston Celtics, Gilbert Arenas is under the impression that Jayson Tatum looks to be on a path towards all-time greatness, and, in his eyes, his career could wind up playing out to the tune of similar domination to that of the late, great Kobe Bryant.