There has been a lot of talk about whether or not Jayson Tatum gets enough appreciation for what he has been able to do so far in his career.
Tatum is one of the best players in the NBA and helped lead the Boston Celtics to an NBA title last season. He has been First-team All-NBA multiple years.
Boston is one of the best teams in the NBA because of how good Tatum is. If it wasn't for him, they wouldn't have won the title last year.
Despite all of these accomplishments, Tatum doesn't get enough talk that he could end up being the best player in the league at some point.
Read more: Paul Pierce Believes Celtics' Jayson Tatum Gets Underappreciated in NBA
Former Celtics superstar Paul Pierce believes that Tatum has a lot of similarities in that regard to NBA legend Tim Duncan. Duncan was one of the best players of all time, but didn't have a lot of flash to his game.
“I said like last year he’s (Jayson Tatum) the best American basketball player “ - @paulpierce34
With everything Jayson Tatum has accomplished at 26, Paul and I feel he is extremely underappreciated. He keeps his personal life private, conducts himself professionally, and stays… pic.twitter.com/dkuzSjvKZQ
— Kevin Garnett (@KevinGarnett5KG) March 6, 2025
"Maybe because he's not flamboyant, and he's private, and he don't talk s---- or, you know, he's not demonstrative out there. I don't know. You know, he don't bring attention to his self, and that's why people gravitate towards like Ja, Anthony Edwards. Because you know, so what? He more like the wing Tim Duncan."
Pierce believes that's the right comparison because Duncan also never brought attention to himself and just let his play do the talking. Tatum is a really good player and he should get more recognition for his play.
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Duncan is one of the greatest players of his generation, so Tatum hasn't reached that ceiling yet. He hasn't come anywhere near the team success that Duncan had in his career.
Duncan won five championships. Tatum might still get there, but he's not there yet. Any Duncan comparison probably should stop until he wins at least one more title.
Tatum is doing what he can to get some respect. If he keeps winning titles, the respect will automatically come. He will make them respect him more.
So far this season, Tatum is averaging 26.9 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 5.8 assists per game.
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