"Larry Bird Is The Best Celtic To Ever Wear This Uniform. That's The Guy That I'm Chasing" - Jayson Tatum's Mentality Entering This Season Is Absolutely Perfect

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Alright, while I'm sure Tatum meant no disrespect, let's address the most important part of this clip first.

Larry Bird is not the greatest Celtic to ever wear their uniform. That will forever be this man

Nathaniel S. Butler. Getty Images.

and frankly, it's not up for debate. No one is ever going to surpass Bill Russell as the greatest Celtic to ever live

Outside of that, it's impossible not to love everything else about not only that clip, but Tatum's mindset heading into the season. It's essentially the perfect answer. We all know that deep down he's probably pissed about how things went down this summer, but I love that he's not willing to say it publicly. I also love that it's abundantly clear that there is zero complacency from top to bottom when it comes to this team. From Brad to Joe to Tatum to Jaylen to everyone else on the roster, nobody is satisfied with just winning one title. Mind you, it was a title that stamped them as Celtics legends for the rest of time, but what makes this group unique is their opportunity to add more.

Tatum talked about this immediately after winning in June and he's reiterated it at every step since. Winning one ring got you into the club as legends, but there are levels to it. Are you going to be the KG/Pierce level where you finish with one, or are going to break through into even more rare air and win multiple? Sure one is cool, but you know what's even cooler? More than one. 

If Tatum's goal is to catch and pass Larry Bird, well he's certainly well on his way. I'm a firm believer that something special happened the second those two finally met for the first time at last year's All Star Game

it was almost as if the second they locked hands the power of Larry Bird immediately transferred to Tatum. Don't ask me to explain that, it's just something I feel in my gut.

I know to some out there this may sound like a crazy take and a conversation many of the old heads may not be ready to have, but the evidence speaks for itself

Tatum is also the first Celtic since Bird to make 3 straight All NBA First Teams and the first Celtic since Bird to lead their team in points, rebounds, and assists on their way to a title. I also don't think it's a stretch to suggest that eventually, Tatum will pass Bird in points (21,791) as well.

But as we know, in order for this to become a reality, Tatum is going to have to win multiple rings, and not just 2. You need to at the very least tie Bird's 3. Given what we've seen so far, that's not totally out of the question at this point. With each passing season, we get more and more performances that end up putting Tatum on a list with Bird, and now that he's broken through and won his first ring, we finally get to see a version of Tatum that no longer has that "will he ever win?" pressure, which in my opinion is going to bring the best version we've ever seen. Considering how dominant the 2023-24 version was, that's encouraging. 

If we're being honest, the fact that we can even legitimately entertain this Tatum/Larry discussion is pretty crazy. Whatever we may have hoped Tatum (and Brown) would turn into after they were drafted, the fact that it's been even better than we could have imagined is wild. With each passing season, the comparison gets less and less crazy, which is not something I ever thought I'd live to see. For my entire life, Paul Pierce was the best Celtic of my era and is for sure one of the best to ever suit up for the Celts, and even he isn't in Larry Bird discussions.

But Tatum? The path is there. The skill level is there. Now he just needs to tackle the hardest part, which is the hardware.