The Boston Celtics are on a tear right now, as they just breezed through the first round, and are now slated to face the New York Knicks in the conference semifinals. Led by a dominant Jayson Tatum, people are starting to question where he is on the all-time totem pole.
Celtics legend Paul Pierce believes Tatum is on his way up, and thinks he could even catch ex-Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Kevin Durant all-time.
“He can do everything KD can do. They’re similar in a lot of ways. He might even have more of a handle. His bag is just as good. He can shoot. He can score just like him,” Pierce stated.
While he is definitely biased, Pierce does have a point. In terms of playstyle, Tatum and Durant are quite similar. Both love using handles to drive to the rim, both love mid-range jumpers, and both love shooting threes.
As for accolades, Durant has the definite lead, but Tatum could catch up. Durant won the ROY in 2008 his first and only MVP in 2014 at age 25 with OKC, and has won two NBA Finals in four appearances since then, being the Finals MVP both times he won.
Tatum has never won a MVP, or a Finals MVP, but he has won a championship. He also has six All-Star nods to Durant’s 15, and four All-NBA’s to Durant’s 11. However, to be fair to Tatum, Durant has had since 2007 to gather these accolades, while Tatum has only had since 2017.
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So, could Tatum catch up? Most definitely. He needs to keep doing what he’s doing to get All-Star and All-NBA nods, and win a couple more championships. If he can win Finals MVP in both, and get a normal MVP somewhere as well, he most definitely could pass Durant.
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