Jayson Tatum on this MVP race showdown against Nikola Jokic going poorly for him:


“I’m not trying to make it about myself…We talk about respecting each other’s space and understanding the flow of the game. It’s not upon me to hijack the game and make it about me and it’s a national TV game. Other guys had it going. So if I have to be in the corner, if I have to be a facilitator at times, so be it.”

28 comments
  1. “I got you today🤞🏼”

    -Tatum’s text to Tony Snell before the game

  2. Jesus christ lmao. Listen i get what hes saying but at the end of the day we go as far as he takes us as the best player, and games like this dont exactly instill confidence

  3. He knows he’s not a true #1 . I knew it when he did that interview with Taylor rooks and he said he had doubts whether he could be or couldn’t

  4. Tatum’s response seems to think his role was to stand in the corner and not play defense. If he had done the little things right tonight and still shown he was capable of channeling his inner Derrick White and doing the right thing, facilitating, playing defense, putting effort in on both ends then this comment would have been fine, but this isn’t based in reality.

    He wasn’t challenging people on defense. He wasn’t crashing boards. He had 5 TOV. He got bumped around a tiny bit and refused to drive. He put on a bunch of muscle allegedly and is more afraid of any contact than ever before.

  5. Tatum isn’t in no damn MVP race LMAO. It’s absolutely insane to say Tatum is anywhere close to as good as Jokic this year.

  6. “Hijacking” the game isn’t about you it’s about doing what needs to be done to win. The best player HAS to hijack the game sometimes, like when your down ten in the 4th quarter.

    JB “Hijacked” the game by being ruthlessly aggressive and it was the only thing that gave us a chance to win.

    It’s your job to hijack the damn game.

    I’m a pretty relentless Tatum defender but that answer is awful and it looked exactly like that on the floor, and we are not going to win if that remains the attitude.

  7. Tatum was fine today. I think KP deserves more blame for missing so many bunnies and taking too many dumb 3s. Tatum was letting the others cook, just had too many turnovers and missed 1 clutch 3. People need to get a grip, he could’ve played better but he played a team game tonight. This is not Tatum vs Jokic, this is Boston vs Denver. Tatum taking 25 shots and we lose by 20.

  8. What a horrible comment. Really explains why he looks the way he does in these high profile games

  9. If JB made his free throws, or at the end if before tatum made the 3 they tied it with a 2 we would have won. I’m not worried. 🍀‼️

  10. Cmon JT. You’re the best player on this team, this is your fucking team. Don’t talk about hijack and standing in the corner, that’s fucking weak. You took like 8 shots through 3 quarters, that’s a fucking joke. You had 5 turnovers so it’s not like your passing was a bright spot. He needs to have more confidence in his game and himself in the big moments. You have to aggressive early don’t fucking be cute and be passive when this team needs you otherwise when you do try like you did at times in the 4th quarter, it was too late. You didn’t have a great feel for the game. The Celtics will not win the championship with Tatum playing this way, you’ve got to want it more than anyone on the court. Wake the fuck up JT.

  11. Call me crazy but I think it’s a good think that’s our best player realizes that sometimes you should defer if you’re not having a great game and the other team is still doubling you

  12. This is what Chuck and Shaq mean by he’s too nice. He has yet to find the right balance. What he said is the right idea but a leader does other things to help his team win when he’s off. And he didn’t do that tonight. Mindlessly tossing the ball around without being engaged does not mean you’re actually making an impact

  13. Do you guys understand why Tatum used the word “hijack” in reference to himself shooting more? Jokic or KD or Steph putting up more shots wouldn’t be “hijacking” the offense, so why would it be for Tatum?

    Because the shots that he takes are, on average, not high-quality shots. Sometimes they go in, but they’re not something you can rely on. If you disagree, you’re welcome to give an example of a Tatum shot, that he’s capable of creating for himself, that’s actually a good shot.

  14. Jayson Tatum was never in the running for mvp. It was jokic vs shia from the start. Giannis was not a front runner for mvp too.

  15. This says all I need to know about JT. Imagine a real stud all star talking like that while the team lost. The dude is a zero. Hijacking a game we are losing? Ummm yes please. One day he needs to take responsibility for a loss. Like a star should. “That loss was on me I need to be better”

  16. I don’t think he was ever in that race; not in a team with so many other great players…

  17. This is the mentality that will win us games. Just because he had a bad game doesn’t mean his approach is bad. It’s worked for us this year, that’s why we have 48 wins.

  18. JT shouldn’t get MVP this year. He’s just ‘not him’ and Joe mazzulla is not the coach during crunch time.
    I’m sick of us losing these crunch time games or games where we must win to assert dominance. This game was just a flash of the championship finals series and we blew it big time. JT had 15 points in this game, 5/13 fgs. 😭😭it feels like an unsustainable bubble at this point

  19. Him missing that crucial three, and then casually smiling after, I dunno what ti make of it.

  20. This is the level of concern we’ve been trying to discuss all this time. But whenever it’s brought up, it’s you’re a doomer. Wins and loses in the regular season record wise isn’t the end all be all. It’s how they look against potential playoff match ups, especially a potential Finals match-up that should give us all great pause. We’re close, but it seems we can’t get over that crest where the other team can go even higher.

  21. We get what he meant but he didn’t phrase it well. I don’t want him to hijack any game either but that is not what most “reasonable” fans are asking for right? We are asking him to be more involved to help other guys; defense, rebound, drive and kick out etc. There are other things a star can contribute when his shooting is not going well. It’s ok though, some players need more time to figure their role in different situations.

    Even if he never became good at heroball like Kobe it does not mean we cannot win a championship with this squad as a team.

  22. All of that is true, AAAAAAND, if you have to take over the game then do that too.

  23. Honestly if he wanted to impact the game elsewhere he should have asked to guard Jokic

  24. He’s 5th on the list for MVP…

    What race??

    He’s not even top 3 🤣🤣🤣🤣💨💨

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