After making an All-NBA team for the first time in his career, Jayson Tatum’s ensuing season didn’t deliver the same results.
Statistically, the Boston Celtics wing was better last season than in 2019-20. But he missed some time due to COVID-19 and his team didn’t perform as well, which some docked against him.
Still, with a flawed voting system still categorizing players by positions No. 1 through No. 5, Tatum didn’t make All-NBA as a forward or guard. The archaic voting process is a different story, but nonetheless, Tatum wasn’t happy.
“Yeah, I was mad about it and it had nothing to do with the money,” Tatum told The Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn, in reference to how being snubbed cost him a $32 million bonus.
“I just felt like I increased my assists, my points, my rebounds, I clearly had a better season this year than last season. With COVID and how it affected our team, I guess people held that against me. I clearly should have made one of those teams but it will happen, but just get better for next year.”
Tatum carrying a chip on his shoulder into next season should yield a different outcome, and we love how salty he is about being left off All-NBA, deservedly so.
“How could you watch my game and the season I had and think I wasn’t one of the best 15 players?”
