Jayson Tatum, the NBA’s youngest OG

Jayson Tatum is simply 19 years 26 years younger, quickly to be 27 in March. One way or the other, he ended up on “Shaq’s OG” crew for the All-Star Sport, an ensemble of the league’s growing old icons. He and Jaylen Brown had been the one gamers below 30 to be on the roster. The subsequent youngest was 31-year-old Anthony Davis, who was really changed by 32-year-old Kyrie Irving.

Jalen Brunson, who’s 28 years outdated, ended up enjoying for “Kenny’s Younger Stars,” the crew meant to signify the youthful, up-and-coming gamers. So, why was Tatum labeled an “OG” regardless of Brunson being older than him? Nicely, all of it comes all the way down to the resume. Jayson Tatum has already created a legacy that not many can contact, all earlier than even turning 27.

Brunson is an excellent participant in his personal proper, however he doesn’t have the extended excellence that JT does. In simply seven years, Jayson has racked up six All-Star picks, 4 All-NBA picks, three of them to the First Crew, an Jap Convention Finals MVP, a championship ring, and two Olympic gold medals. He additionally holds the report for probably the most factors in a Sport 7, most playoff factors scored earlier than turning 27, and the seventh most profession factors scored earlier than turning 27. His accomplishments up thus far would already be sufficient to get him into the Corridor of Fame, and he hasn’t even hit his prime but.

Being an OG isn’t nearly being good at what you do, although. It’s about incomes the respect and leaving an imprint on the youthful technology. Regardless of what the mainstream sports activities shops and the Twitter trolls might let you know, Jayson has executed greater than sufficient to earn the regard of his friends. You don’t must take my phrase for it; simply have a look at how the gamers talked about him throughout All-Star Weekend.

Bleacher Report requested this 12 months’s Rising Stars about their “welcome to the league” moments. To no one’s shock, a number of gamers talked about Large Deuce. JD Davison, who was drafted by the Boston Celtics in 2022, stated that in his first 12 months he was matched up with Jayson in a sport of starters vs. bench. He took successful to the chest from Jayson, and recalled feeling like, “Rattling, man. Gotta get stronger.”

Chicago Bulls rookie, Matas Buzelis, shared an analogous sentiment, although he was too embarrassed to enter element. He jokingly stated “It was robust. Let’s not speak about that.”

San Antonio Spurs rookie, Stephon Fortress, had some excessive reward for Jayson as effectively. Tatum and Fortress briefly matched up within the first spherical of the All-Star Sport, the place the OG’s knocked off the Rising Stars. Following the sport, CelticsBlog’s Noa Dalzell caught up with Stephon and requested him concerning the expertise of competing towards JT.

“I’ve been an enormous fan of JT for a minute. Simply attending to share the court docket with him is a blessing,” he stated. Fortress has additionally been sporting Jayson Tatum’s signature Jordan model footwear all through the season.

Jayson has already left his mark on the subsequent technology of gamers, however the older technology has been giving him his flowers as effectively. With talks of a possible 1v1 match being carried out as a future All-Star occasion, a number of gamers had been requested who they suppose might win it. Kevin Durant supplied JT as considered one of his solutions, after naming himself, in fact.

That is all coming from simply the previous few days of All-Star Weekend. Gamers like LeBron James and Steph Curry have been singing his praises for years now. It hasn’t taken lengthy for Jayson Tatum to place the NBA on discover and set up himself as one of many premier basketball gamers on this planet. Celtics followers have been fortunate sufficient to see him develop over the previous seven years, and if all goes effectively, we should always have the pleasure of seeing him proceed to excel for lots longer.