Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry just listed Boston Celtics centerpiece Jayson Tatum as one of the many faces of the NBA. He spoke with Nick Friedell of The Athletic, noting that while he doesn’t think about the ‘Face of the League’ conversations much, he hopes guys like Tatum and others will be great ambassadors:
“Not much at all,” Curry said via Friedell. “That stuff takes care of itself. I hope there’s an energy towards being great ambassadors for the game, whoever the group of guys are, you can obviously name those between the Ja’s, the Ant’s, the Luka’s, the Wemby’s, the Shai’s and all that, JT’s (Jayson Tatum), but I don’t get caught up in that, because when I was coming up, there was never a conversation. Until you got to the finals, other people started talking about it.”
In the list Curry mentioned, Tatum is certainly among the elite.
Who else are the new faces of the NBA?
For the last few years, conversations about the new face of the league have run rampant. Guys like Tatum, Luka Doncic, and Anthony Edwards have been at the forefront of the talks.
The impending retirement of players like Curry, LeBron James, and Kevin Durant is a big reason the topic has been discussed, and with the new guard beginning to take over, it’s only a matter of time before the league is passed on to new hands.
Curry threw out a nice group of players who could be considered the new faces of the NBA. Alongside Tatum, he name-dropped Ja Morant, Edwards, Doncic, Victor Wembanyama, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Of that bunch, only two have managed to win a championship—Gilgeous-Alexander and Tatum. Guys like Doncic and Edwards have made the Conference Finals before, though they haven’t progressed further than that.
Morant has shown impressive skills on the court, though his inability to stay healthy has hindered him, and Wembanyama is just getting started in the NBA, entering his third season in the league.
As Curry mentioned, the ‘Face of the League’ discussions usually take care of themselves. There is no actual appointment. It’s simply how the league plays out and which players grab the limelight.
For the past few years, Tatum has been at the center of the NBA world. A title. Four straight First Team All-NBA nods. Plenty of exposure. But now, an injury will see him sidelined for most of the year.
But perhaps that will only thrust him into the spotlight even more once he returns. Only time will tell.