What is Tatum’s best revenge against Steve Kerr, Warriors? originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Jayson Tatum’s much-hyped chance for revenge is finally here.
We don’t need to tell you the backstory, do we? Tatum had a pretty good summer. The NBA title. The gold medal. The richest contract extension in NBA history. The 2K cover. About the only thing that didn’t go exactly as planned was his playing time with Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Therefore, Steve Kerr dethroned Kyrie Irving as Villain #1 in Boston.
It’s probably not the biggest bummer to cut your playing time in a 12-player, six-game summer exhibition with a bunch of Hall of Fame-bound teammates. Alas, the great find motivation in even the smallest aspects.
Therefore Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla cackled with joy at Tatum’s patch of misfortune. While everyone around Tatum tried to talk him down, accentuate all the positives, and offer their own anger about his Team USA playing time, Mazzulla celebrated it. And he asked Tatum one question:
“How will you answer?”
Tonight, at what should be a pretty delirious TD Garden, we’ll get our answer.
🔊 Celtics Talk: How will Jayson Tatum respond when Steve Kerr and Warriors visit the Garden? | Listen and Subscribe | Watch on YouTube
Maybe Tatum will give Boston fans what they want: some kind of monster scoring explosion full of icy glares toward the Golden State bench. Kerr had already strengthened himself for the loud boos he’ll no doubt hear during pregame introductions, and we’re ready for the occasional, “USA! USA! USA!” chants after any Tatum bucket.
But, in our mind, the best revenge would simply be Tatum not getting wrapped up in the emotions of the game. It would be Tatum taking any additional attention that the Warriors could send his way hoping to shut down a loud game, and make it easy buckets for his teammates.
Tatum doesn’t need to prove anything to anyone. That shiny gold Larry O’Brien Trophy lifted a weight off those broad shoulders. And Tatum admits he has much higher goals for his legacy than a regular-season game against a coach who made a mistake with his usage.
Lost in the Tatum vs. Kerr hoopla is a pretty interesting early season matchup. The Celtics’ schedule through the first two months of the season is devoid of particularly gendered matchups – opening night against the Knicks was big for obvious reasons, including the team’s ring-collecting process — but calendar rotation doesn’t go into overdrive until later this month with a visit to the NBA Cup from East-leading Cleveland (Nov. 19) and a dance with the Wolves (Nov. 24).
Look, Tatum will almost certainly get his points Wednesday night. The absence of Jaylen Brown means a greater need for Tatum’s scoring output. But we’d settle for Tatum’s line of The classless stomping of Boston by the Warriors here last March: 27 points on 9-of-13 shooting, five assists, +40 over 25 minutes.
If you take a step back and ignore the Team USA storyline, here’s another storyline about one dynasty — perhaps trying to make one last run at title contention — visiting a team that took its 3-point heavy game plan, put it. on steroids, and trying to create a dynasty run of his own.
Tatum and the Celtics can’t let emotions cloud the bigger vision.
We keep thinking back to the 2022-23 season and Boston’s first meeting with the Warriors after the 2022 Finals. Boston came in way too hot, and despite Tatum’s suggestion that the outside world hyped the game more than the players did, it was clear the Celtics were a little too wired that night.
The Celtics have been much more contained since then. They beat the Warriors in overtime in a rematch at TD Garden that season, then last season, the script completely flipped. Boston lost an overtime game in the Bay in December, but crushed the warriors by a surprising 52 points at the Garden.
Was that the eviction on some piece of real estate that Golden State might still own in Boston’s head? Was it the beginning of passing away of the torch of champions?
Kerr vs. Tatum is a fun storyline to add some noise to an early season matchup. But there’s more than a little DNP revenge at play here.
