Jayson Tatum predicts another Celtics-Mavericks NBA Finals
BOSTON -- Did you enjoy the Celtics-Mavericks NBA Finals? Boston fans certainly did, and Celtics star Jayson Tatum believes a rematch is coming next summer.
Fresh off his first NBA title, another gold medal in the Olympics, and several other honors being bestowed upon him this summer, Tatum continued his offseason of fun with an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday night. Tatum was promoting his new children's book, "Baby Dunks-a-Lot," but Fallon wasn't going to let the budding superstar go without asking a few tough questions.
The late-night host found an essay that Tatum wrote when he was just nine years old about his goals for the future. In it, Tatum said he wanted play in the NBA and represent the USA at the Olympics before he turned 30. The 26-year-old Tatum has accomplished both of those goals, so Fallon took it as a sign that Tatum can also predict the future.
As a New Yorker, Fallon asked if his New York Knicks will win more than the 50 games they won last season. Tatum believes Boston's Atlantic Division foe will win "a few more" games than they did in 2024.
As for next season's NBA MVP, Tatum had an obvious choice.
"Can I say myself?" he asked humbly.
Tatum led the Celtics in scoring, rebounding, and assists during the postseason, becoming one of just six players to do so while winning a title. But playing on a loaded Celtics team, he finished sixth in NBA MVP voting during the regular season. The highest he's finished in the MVP race was fourth in 2023.
Tatum certainly has the talent and the skills to win an MVP, but in order to keep up with the volume scoring of guys like Luka Doncic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the all-around stats of Nikola Jokic, he'd have to get really selfish on the floor. That isn't really his mentality, and it's not really what's best for Boston with Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, and Kristaps Porzingis also on the floor.
That doesn't mean Tatum can't win an MVP next season, but it's a lot harder to do so with all that talent around him. And in the end, he's going to put winning another title ahead of his own stats and awards.
Tatum has loads of confidence that the Celtics will be there in the end next summer, picking his team to head to the NBA Finals for a second straight season.
"It's gonna be a rematch. We're going to play Dallas again," Tatum said after giving it some thought.
He didn't pick a winner in that matchup, but it's pretty safe to assume who Tatum would pick to win that rematch. Tatum also revealed that his young son, Deuce, will be getting his own championship ring from Boston's title run.
Tatum and the Celtics will begin defending their title on Oct. 22 at TD Garden against the Knicks -- after collecting their rings and raising the franchise's 18th championship banner to the rafters.