Jayson Tatum is well on his way to becoming one of the best players to ever play for the Boston Celtics, which is an impressive feat on its own, knowing their storied history. However, it's amazing to think there was once a point in time when Tatum wanted out.
Shortly after the Celtics drafted Tatum in 2017, they signed Gordon Hayward, arguably the best free agent available that summer, to a max contract. During a recent appearance on the Club 520 podcast, Tatum revealed that he told his agent he wanted out upon hearing the news about Hayward while also explaining how his agent talked him down.
"I called my agent (saying) 'Yo, I gotta get traded,' Tatum said. "I'm in Summer League before I ever play a game. He like, 'Relax, just wait it out.' Basically, he's like, 'You gotta chill.' I'm like, 'Yo, I'm trying to play. I didn't want to get drafted to come off the bench and not start.' He was like, 'Yo, you in a great organization. They gonna teach you how to play the right way.'"
Jayson Tatum says he called his agent after the Celtics signed Gordon Hayward:
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) November 4, 2024
“I gotta get traded.”
(via @club520podcast) pic.twitter.com/uISGxd5Lcj
Tatum was featured in the Celtics' starting five on opening night in 2017 alongside Hayward. However, Hayward and Kyrie Irving were considered the Celtics' focal points. As everyone knows, Hayward went down five minutes into the season, giving Tatum the chance to shine in his absence.
It isn't all too shocking that Tatum admitted this
It's not like Tatum has anything bad to say about the Celtics currently because, in the end, it all worked out for all sides involved. However, he has been candid about how he felt around the time he was drafted in the past. In 2020, he admitted that he wanted the Suns to draft him with the No. 4 pick for the same reasons he originally wanted out of Boston: To play as much as possible.
His issues early on had nothing to do with Hayward himself or the Celtics as a franchise. Tatum was justifiably concerned that his growth would have been stunted if he had come into the league as a role player. There's no telling what would have happened if Hayward had never gotten hurt, but following his injury, it took very little time for Tatum to show what he was made of.
Since then, Tatum has become one of the league's best and most successful players. From the very beginning, he's had a chip on his shoulder that's got him to where he is, and it's made the Celtics one of the most consistently winningest franchises since they drafted him.