Boston Celtics: 2 players in running with Jayson Tatum for “best under 25”
By Mark Nilon
The Boston Celtics have been the hottest team in the NBA since the flip of the calendar year to 2022, and Sunday’s matinee was a perfect example of just how impressive they’ve been.
Squaring off against their Atlantic Division rival in the Brooklyn Nets, the shamrocks fought valiantly, trading blow for blow with the star-studded ball club until finally pulling ahead in the fourth quarter to win by a final score of 126-120.
While the hard-fought contest, along with their recent 31-game stretch has proven to be a full team effort, Boston’s mid-season turnaround has been heavily influenced by the play of their star players and, particularly, Jayson Tatum.
Since the start of January, the perennial All-Star and likely 2022 All-NBA selection has found himself posting stellar all-around averages of 26.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game.
Post-All-Star break, specifically, Tatum has managed to take things up to an even higher level, with per-game numbers reading 30 points, 7.4 rebounds, and five assists, while, most recently, capping things off with a 54 burger against Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and the Nets.
Since coming into the league just five years ago, the wing has quickly established himself as one of the top players in the association and, considering that he’s still just 24 years of age, there’s certainly an argument to be made that he’s the best player in the NBA under the age of 25.
That said, being there seems to be more active top-flight youngsters than we’ve seen in quite some time, there could very easily be an in-depth debate as to who in the league could contend with the Boston Celtics star for such a moniker, and, in specific, there are 2 players that we at HH believe deserve to be in the running alongside Jayson Tatum: