It's Beyond Embarrassing How The National Media's Brains Continue To Melt Every Time They Have To Talk About The Celtics And Jayson Tatum
Maddie Meyer. Getty Images.About a week ago, I wrote this blog
covering something that is truly unlike anything we've ever seen. I'm not sure what happens, but when it's time for the national media to discuss the Boston Celtics, it's as if their brains collectively melt. It's incredible. When they win, we have to hear about how they "aren't scaring anyone". When they win by too much, it's bad because they aren't battle tested or proven they can win in the clutch. When they win in the clutch, it's actually bad because they should be blowing everyone out. If they lose a single game, now it means they have an identity crisis.
With every game, the national narrative surrounding this team gets more and more insane.
Our latest example comes off of what we saw last night in Game 1. A big (albeit lucky) win to take a 1-0 series lead. Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, all playing great and having big moments in big spots to help secure a win. So what do we think the narratives were today? Where would everyone like to start?
Ah, this is a great one. Remember when Anthony Edwards went 6-24 in Game 7 and was carried by KAT and Jaden McDaniels? What did we have to hear from ESPN after that win? Was the discourse that those guys bailed out Anthony Edwards? Of course not. We were told he was MJ.
But here's Jayson Tatum, a player who threw up 36/12/4 including 10 points in OT which included big time high pressure makes, and this is the discourse. Yes, Jaylen's shot bailed out the entire team. It bailed out the unplayable bench. It bailed out Joe. It bailed out himself with his brutal 4th quarter TOs. But this was a game in which Tatum was a +20 on the floor and a -15 when he was off. To talk about being "bailed out" like he threw up a 6-24 stinker is insane, when you couldn't stop calling the guy who did throw up that 6-24 stinker Michael fucking Jordan.
The Tatum hate is reaching a point where all you can do is laugh. Again, he had 36/12/4 on 46% shooting, played GREAT defense and made big shots down the stretch. Yet what is the narrative for him?
I mean holy fucking shit.
Again, the way Jayson Tatum is talked about is reaching insanity levels.
"Jayson Tatum was terrible"
"I know he put up numbers but he's was not good"
You can see the tears forming in real time. They were so rock hard to do nothing but slander Tatum for losing this game, that even in a win they couldn't let go. Mind you, these are the same people who couldn't stop slobbing on Ant's knob for his 6-24 performance in Game 7. The hypocrisy is crazy.
This Stephen A take may be the worst of them all though. Not just because the takes are horrendous, but they are factually incorrect. We're still doing Ime Udoka fantasies in 2024? Mind you, Joe Mazzulla's offense just finished a season in which IT WAS THE GREATEST OFFENSE IN NBA HISTORY. Top offense during the year, top 2 offense in the playoffs. The team just scored 133 points, 117 of it coming in regulation. This fantasy world where the Celtics never lose a game under Ime Udoka is so pathetic, and Stephen A can't quit it.
Not only has the offense been better under Joe in both seasons, it's been better than Ime's offense in both playoff runs as well. Apparently to Stephen A there's no consistency, yet the Celtics are 73-20 on the season. How the hell does that happen with an awful inconsistent offense? They've been the most consistent team ALL SEASON.
In this Game 1 alone, the Celtics offense had a 117.7 ORTG, which barely trailed their playoff average of 118.8, which is good for 2nd in the playoff field. That rating would be good for the 6th best offense during the year, trailing the Denver Nuggets at 117.8. But I'm being told "their offense looks awful", in a game they had 30 AST on 47 FGM. That's awful? The takeaway from this game is the Celtics would be better with Ime Udoka? A guy who played drop coverage on Steph Curry in the Finals on one end and then could barely break 100 on the other? What the fuck is going on?
Are the Celtics perfect? Hell no! Did they play like shit for stretches last night? Of course! But last time I checked, winning ugly was still winning. All playoffs these same people told us the Celtics needed to be battle tested and needed to win clutch games, and then they do, and this is the discourse that comes with it. For a team that is 9-2 in the playoffs, it's getting a bit out of hand.
I'm not suggesting that I need the national media to suck the Celtics dicks at all times. All I ask is for them to just stop being weird. Why is it so hard to just be normal? Talk about their struggles, talk about what they did well, and don't try and force these insane narratives that are in no way supported by fact. It doesn't seem to be an issue with anyone else, but when it comes to the Celts (and Jayson Tatum specifically) this is the shit we are getting instead.
As I said in the blog a few weeks ago, the way this ends is by reaching the top of the mountain and winning the title. Or at least that's what I think we all expect. In reality, ESPN and the like will probably try their hardest to invalidate the title, just like they've been trying to do every step of the way during this run.