CANTON, Mass. — The Boston Celtics’ best young players, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, sought the knowledge and wisdom of two Hall of Famers while working to improve their skill sets over the summer.
Tatum got to work out with Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant (a HOF lock in 2021), who was the Celtics star’s favorite player growing up. Tatum explained earlier in the summer that footwork and low-post skills were a focus in his workout with Bryant, but the meeting clearly was beneficial beyond just the basketball part.
“It was one of the cooler basketball experiences of my life,” Tatum said Monday at Celtics media day. “He’s my biggest basketball inspiration. To have that interaction with him on a personal level, I still have to look at the pictures to know it happened. It was very helpful.”
Brown spent time working out with Tracy McGrady, who went into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017.
“Watched him growing up, patterned my game after (him), etc.,” Brown said. “Being able to talk to him, him inviting me out, it meant the world to me.”
Brown explained that McGrady and him talked about “being able to handle the ball, being able to score on different levels, how his career kind of started off and where it ended up. Things like that. Him talking to me about some of the ups and downs he experienced throughout his career — early in his career, later in his career. Him giving me advice gave me a lot of motivation in terms of just keep working and keep getting better.”
Both Tatum and Brown shined for the C’s last season. Tatum finished as a Rookie of the Year finalist and Brown took a major step forward by doubling his scoring average and becoming a much better 3-point shooter during his sophomore campaign.
They are poised for huge jumps during the 2018-19 campaign, too, and seeking help from two of the best players of the last 25 years is a good way to go about improving on and off the court.
Here are some other notes from Media Day:
— Terry Rozier said Tatum was “super different” in pickup games this summer compared to where he was last year as a rookie. “He’s got that ‘I’m the man’ look. He’s been killing.”
Kyrie Irving has been pretty impressed with these pickup games, too.
“It’s one of the highest levels I’ve been part of just because of the amount of talent that we have around us,” Irving said. “Our pickups have been unbelievable. If any cameras ever got a shot in there, it would be like, ‘This is pretty close to a game.’”
— Irving says his knee feels “great,” and he was able to test it out this summer with NBA veteran Jamal Crawford, who played some pickup games with the C’s guard in Seattle. But it was a Celtics legend’s appearance at the gym that made it a memorable experience for Irving.
“I came in the gym and Bill Russell walked in the door for a regular pickup game and it’s just like, ‘Woah, wow,” Irving said. “Talking about history here, man. Just to watch a pickup game that Jamal put it together. In the end, getting the chance to talk to him, if you ever get to talk to him, he’s as cultured as they come and has a great personality that’s knowledgeable and he’s still doing it, showing up and supporting the Boston Celtics.
“He’s a Celtic for life and I wouldn’t be able to talk about the Celtic tradition without Bill Russell doing what he did and laying down a great foundation. That was awesome in itself, and an opportunity I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”
— ESPN recently ranked Irving as the 20th-best player in the league. Celtics forward Marcus Morris strongly disagrees.
“Obviously, that’s not true,” Morris said. “At least, in my opinion, top five. He’s special, man.”
— The Celtics likely will play three wings in their starting five: Tatum, Brown and Gordon Hayward. The return of Hayward adds not only scoring on the wing, but another playmaker who can bring the ball up and facilitate the offense.
“Gordon’s ability to play as the primary ball handler will open up opportunities there (playing alongside other wings),” Celtics head coach Brad Stevens said. “We’re not playing in a day and age, necessarily, where we’re numbering all of our guys and what position they are. We’re going to have all those guys out there at once and hopefully be very versatile.”
— Celtics center Daniel Theis, who suffered a season-ending torn meniscus injury in March, says his right knee is “fully recovered.” Theis was a sneaky big loss for the C’s last season. He gave them valuable defensive versatility at power forward and center, while also stretching the floor and running an effective pick-and-roll on offense.
