The NBA Finals have been intense between the Golden State Warriors and the Boston Celtics as the Dubs have the upper hand heading into Boston for Game 6 as Steve Kerr’s men will be looking to close it out while Celtics will be looking to force Game 7. Amid all the discussion about the finals, Warriors veteran Draymond Green shares his thoughts on Celtics star Jayson Tatum.
Green had the opportunity to play alongside Tatum in the summer before facing him in the NBA Finals. Green was in awe of what Tatum can achieve and is capable of great things in future. Tatum has been off colour in the finals as this has been his worst phase this season still he is averaging 23.2 points per game in the finals and is yet to have a big game for his team which they will be hoping is coming in Game 6 at the TD Garden in front of their home fans.
Recently in his podcast, Draymond Green shared that he is not going to take Jayson Tatum lightly as he holds the 24-year-old in high regard. He actually feels that Tatum is somewhat similar to kevin Durant mainly due to his offensive game. He said, “JT is a legit 6-foot-10. The only player that you can even come remotely close to comparing him to in this league is Kevin Durant. And we all know how I feel about Kevin Durant and what I think about him on the offensive end. One of the greatest scorers we’ve ever seen.”
He shares that Tatum is a younger version of Kevin Durant as he believes that experience will bring tremendous growth in the 24-year-old Celtics talisman. “Jayson Tatum is like a young version of that. Obviously don’t have all the experience that Kevin has. Kevin’s what in his 15th or 16th year, JT’s in his fifth. And so, you’ll continue to see that grow, but nonetheless, who he is right now is absolutely amazing,” Green highlighted.
Both the players played for Team USA in the summer and there Green picked Tatum’s brains as Kevin Durant was also present with them. But that time no one expected the Celtics to come this far and Jayson Tatyum to spearhead the team into the NBA FInals. They swept the Brooklyn Nets, Fought tooth and nail against the Milwaukee Bucks and the Miami Heat before coming to the finals to face their toughest test in the Warriors. It hardly mattered if Tatum was facing players like Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jimmy Butler etc. He has taken every challenge into his stride and have shown great maturity enroute to the NBA Finals.