One of the NBA’s biggest storylines this year, before the coronavirus pandemic paused the regular season March 11, was Jayson Tatum’s evolution from promising young third-year player to borderline superstar.
But for Boston Celtics fans with the luxury of watching him night in and night out, his arrival as a threat in this league came much sooner than this season.
Two years ago Wednesday, as an NBA rookie, Tatum put LeBron James on a poster in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals.
Two years ago today: Jayson Tatum dunks on LeBron James ? pic.twitter.com/3tV9TgXVwE
— The Undefeated (@TheUndefeated) May 27, 2020
Sure, the Celtics ended up losing that game and the series, but no one could have anticipated the success of that playoff run without Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward, who were injured.
In hindsight, James perhaps should have made a business decision and gotten out of the way of Tatum’s monster dunk.
The King likely has learned his lesson, however, publicly admitting the young Celtic already is an “absolute problem.”
