Jayson Tatum Snipes At ESPN Ranking For Snubbing Celtics Starter
The Boston star supposedly doesn't pay attention to those kinds of lists
Jayson Tatum claimed he doesn’t pay attention to outside noise, but the Celtics star didn’t seem to forget a preseason ranking after Monday’s win.
Boston outlasted the New York Knicks at TD Garden and pulled away for a 114-98 win. It was a gritty win that head coach Joe Mazzulla loved, and Tatum led the way for the Celtics in a third-quarter rally.
Derrick White continued to make key plays down the stretch, and while his performance doesn’t always show in the box score, he has become a valuable contributor for Boston. And Tatum showed postgame, that he wasn’t happy his teammate didn’t get the national recognition he felt the All-Defensive guard deserved.
“D-White’s a helluva basketball player,” Tatum told reporters, per MassLive’s Souichi Terada. “It’s a damn shame they left him off the top 100 players. That’s why I never pay attention to (expletive) like that. D-White is so valuable, we’re so lucky to have him and even when he’s not shooting the ball well and he makes winning plays like getting that back tap, little things like that. Always competes on defense, contesting shots.”
Boston had four players make ESPN’s top 100 players list, but White missed the cut. The 29-year-old was appreciative of analysts like JJ Reddick who weren’t happy with the snub.
It’s not surprising to hear Tatum stand up for one of his teammates, though he probably wouldn’t name who White should have made the list over — Collin Sexton at No. 98 hasn’t looked well over the first two months of the season. However, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps noted the list did snub White when asked in a reaction follow-up.
The Celtics invested a lot into White, and there’s also been buy-in from players, but for as much as Tatum and his teammates claimed they don’t pay attention to outside noise and what others say about the team, it seems like they got the receipts ready whenever needed.
