Kendrick Perkins believes anything less than the Larry O’Brien Trophy this season is a failure for Jayson Tatum and the Celtics.
The path certainly is there for Boston to return to the NBA Finals. Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks no long are in the playoff equation, and if the Celtics can knock off the Philadelphia 76ers, they’ll either meet an inferior New York Knicks team or the banged-up Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals. It’s also not difficult to argue that the C’s are better than any team that could represent the Western Conference on basketball’s biggest stage.
With all of this in mind, Perkins wanted to make one thing abundantly clear to Tatum on Monday, the day after the Celtics fell to the 76ers in Game 4 of their East semifinal series.
“With Giannis and the Bucks being out, he has zero excuses this season as far as (winning a championship),” Perkins said on ESPN’s “First Take,” as transcribed by NBC Sports Boston. “Jayson Tatum better get it done when it comes to bringing a title back to Boston. Period. When you talk about having a complete roster, he has that. When you talk about having elite point guard play and guys who can bring it up and mix it up with Derrick White, Malcolm Brogdon and Marcus Smart, and you have another superstar on your team in Jaylen Brown. You’re not missing anything when it comes to the interior when you look at Robert Williams and Al Horford.
“He has zero excuses to not get it done. All I heard was how miserable his offseason was, and how he was waiting to get to this moment, and how he only cares about this time right now. Jayson Tatum has to get it done. Not just in this series, but throughout the entire postseason and bring a championship to Boston.”
Tatum and company will try to take another step toward a title Tuesday when they host the Sixers for Game 5 of their best-of-seven series. Tipoff from TD Garden is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.
