This is Jayson Tatum’s final Infinity Stone.
One of my long-time criticisms of Tatum is that, while great, he has lacked an ability to truly manipulate a basketball game. He has always been capable of triple-doubles, but he had never been the kind of creator that made me think one was always around the corner.
It’s why Tatum has always been in the MVP conversation, but never one of the headliners. It’s why guys like Luka Doncic have been ahead of him, despite Tatum’s ability to defend and rebound on teams consistently better than Dallas.
The example I have always used is that Tatum is the classically trained pianist who started as a child, worked incessantly, and became one of the best. Doncic was the 6-year-old who sat at the keys and quickly started playing music by ear. It’s always come easy to him, which is probably why he just got traded because of a questionable work ethic while Tatum looks like he was created in a lab.
But a funny thing happens to guys in their mid-20s who work tirelessly at their craft. They tend to get better.
A few seasons ago, Tatum was tasked with being Boston’s primary creator. Ime Udoka pushed him into that role and Joe Mazzulla never pulled back on the strategy. Boston’s best chance at winning was for Tatum to draw double teams so the rest of his very talented team could play four-on-three, and then his very talented teammates decimating the four-on-three so the double teams could stop.
It didn’t always go well. Tatum’s instincts as a scorer would sometimes take over, and his tendency to do too much, even in the face of multiple defenders, could show up at inopportune times. Even as the passing improved, it still lacked the smoothness of a true creator. Tatum seemed to be more trying to score and passing when those opportunities dissolved
But now things are different. This season, and especially these last few games, have been different from the Tatum we’ve always known. I don’t know if there's an added confidence, if that 27th birthday magic is hitting a few weeks early, or if something just clicked for Tatum, but his game has hit another level.
"He obviously has continued to get better," Mazzulla said. "Where I think he's grown is ... He had two points (in his first stint against Philadelphia), so he's just not being defined by scoring. And he has an understanding of being patient with the game and knowing how to manipulate the game, and knowing when there's spots to have the game come to him."
Mazzulla has used that line ... not being defined by scoring ... a lot when talking both Tatum and Jaylen Brown when they do other things well. And maybe it's as simple as that. Maybe it's the Anthony Edwards mentality softening over time and eventually disappearing. Maybe the championship has helped him understand there's more to the game than scoring. Whatever it is, not being defined by scoring might be the best way to describe why Tatum has turned this corner.
One key element to his passing is that he's not slowing down the game to survey the floor nearly as much. He sees openings developing and he exploits them.
On this assist to Luke Kornet, Tatum not only recognized the open middle of the floor, he casually flipped a lefty pass off the dribble allowing Kornet to get to the rim without breaking stride. With Joel Embiid off the floor, the Celtics had a ton of opportunities to get to the rim, and Tatum fed Kornet over and over.
Tatum loves to shoot this shot. He was open and Andre Drummond was way below the 3-point line, but Tatum used that threat to pull Drummond out of Kornet's way. This is what manipulating the game looks like. It's setting the defense up to expect one thing and then using that expectation to burn them. He knew Kelly Oubre and Guerschon Yabusele were tight on shooters in the corner, so setting up this pass to Kornet was the exact right play.
And then he does something like this:
"He gets just as much excitement when he makes two-on-one read for the right pass to the corner as he does making a 3," Mazzulla said. "He's not defined by one thing, and he's patient in knowing when to manipulate the game and when not to."
Tatum dancing to get open wasn't some sort of grand plan. He just wanted the ball. As soon as he got it, he saw Drummond facing him, so he immediately dropped the bounce pass knowing Drummond could never get back into the play.
Even little things, like his alley-oop pass to Brown had an element of smoothness. Taking an extra dribble to make the defender think it was a drive cleared just enough room for the dunk to be completely uncontested.
And what a beautiful pass that was.
"How was I (seeing the floor)? Same way I see it every game," Tatum said afterwards. "Make the right play, pick them apart."
He's been picking a lot of teams apart, and the way he's doing it is probably going to change the conversation around him.
I always questioned whether he'd headline the MVP conversation. I didn't think he had that special sauce that separates the top few candidates from the rest of the field.
But I do now. These last few games are different. This is more than "wow, what an MVP-level game he just had." This is more "uh oh, what an MVP-level skill he has unlocked."
"I've made tremendous strides since day one," Tatum said. "I think one thing I've been good at is just I never was complacent. I steal from a lot of guys in the league. I watch a lot of film. There's a lot of things I just want to continue to get better at. I think I still got a long way to go from being the best version of me, and I think that really excites me."
You're not alone.