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Gilbert Arenas reveals what will happen to Jayson Tatum when LeBron James retires

Lawrence Fernandez

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Gilbert Arenas reveals what will happen to Jayson Tatum when LeBron James retires image

The Boston Celtics’ title defense continues after clinching the second seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. They completed their second consecutive 60-win season and will enter the postseason for the 11th straight year.

While no Celtic player competed in all 82 regular season games, their key players (except Kristaps Porzingis) have been available for most of the games. Payton Pritchard played the most at 80 games, followed by Derrick White (76), and Luke Kornet (73).

Though those players are invaluable to the Celtics’ success, Jayson Tatum remains one of the Celtics’ marquee leaders, together with Jaylen Brown. It’s difficult to fathom Boston having much success without the contributions of the former Duke standout.

With Boston being one of the favorites to lift the Larry O’Brien Trophy, making this prediction come true gives Tatum a stronger credential for comparison with the league’s best players. Sadly, with success comes enemies, and in Tatum’s case, the NBA media might be his antagonist.

For now, the six-time NBA All-Star is immune from the media’s pitchforks because of LeBron James, a player who has his fair share of detractors. However, as Arenas warned, basketball reporters will transfer their crosshairs to Tatum once James retires.

“When LeBron is gone and (the media) is done whooping him, you (Tatum) next. Anybody who they say is the next Michael Jordan gets the hate.” Arenas mentioned in a recent episode of Underdog Network’s Gil’s Arena.

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Arenas added that it’s hard to see the media be critical of other players like Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid, and Victor Wembanyama. Instead, the scribes might treat Tatum as the villain, especially if the Celtics retain the NBA championship.

Despite Boston’s enviable rotation, Tatum leads the team in points (26.8), rebounds (8.7), and assists (6.0) per game. Maintaining these numbers should make him public enemy number one to opposing fan bases, especially among Eastern Conference teams.

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Lawrence Fernandez

Lawrence Fernandez is a freelance NBA writer with The Sporting News. He has covered football, basketball and mixed martial arts since 2018. His works have been published at Heavy, ClutchPoints, Sportskeeda, FanSided and ONE Championship. He is a die-hard Celtics fan who dreams of watching a game at TD Garden.