Jayson Tatum led the Celtics to 61 regular-season victories and a trip to the NBA Eastern Conference semifinals, where he was felled by a ruptured right Achilles' tendon in Game 4 against the Knicks.
Jayson Tatum led the Celtics to 61 regular-season victories and a trip to the NBA Eastern Conference semifinals, where he was felled by a ruptured right Achilles' tendon in Game 4 against the Knicks.Frank Franklin II/Associated Press
Celtics forward and six-time NBA All-Star Jayson Tatum was named on Friday to the 2024-25 All-NBA first team, the NBA announced.
It is the fifth career All-NBA selection for the eighth-year forward, including his fourth straight selection to the league’s first team.
Tatum was joined on the first team by the Thunders’ Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the league’s MVP, the Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic, the Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo, and the Cavaliers’ Donovan Mitchell.
“Congratulations to Jayson on his All-NBA selection,” Brad Stevens, Celtics president of basketball operations, said in a statement. “To be honored five years in a row, with four first-team selections, speaks to his dedication and drive to be amongst the game’s best. He’s a great teammate and player, and is deserving of all the accolades that come his way.”
Tatum, 27, averaged 26.8 points, 8.7 rebounds, a career-high 6.0 assists, and 1.1 steals in 72 games (all starts) this season, making him one of two NBA players to record 26.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists, and 1.0 steals while playing in at least 65 contests (Jokic).
It marked the fifth straight season in which Tatum averaged at least 26 points per game, the NBA’s longest active streak by a player who has appeared in at least 80 percent of his team’s games.
Tatum made a career-high 250 3-pointers, placing him seventh in the league in that category. He was one of two NBA players along with the Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards to make at least 250 3-pointers and 350 free throws.
Tatum tallied 28 games with at least 30 points, which was tied for the fourth-most such efforts in the NBA this season. That included 15 games in which he recorded at least 30 points, five rebounds, and five assists. He was one of four players to record a 40-point triple-double, doing so on Dec. 21 in Chicago with 43 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 assists.