Jayson Tatum Voices His Displeasure With All-NBA Voting Process
BOSTON (CBS) -- Jayson Tatum is heading to his third straight All-Star Game this weekend, as the Celtics star is finally getting some recognition as one of the best players in the NBA. But he does have a mighty big beef with the All-NBA voters that cost him quite a bit of recognition last year -- not to mention a large chunk of cash.
Tatum narrowly missed getting the second All-NBA nod of his career (he made the third team in 2019-20), which had some massive implications when it came to his rookie-scale extension. The Celtics forward said that he heard one voter left him off their ballot because they were not a fan of his shot selection.
That ultimately cost Tatum $30 million over the course of his extension with Boston. All because one writer didn't like his shot selection.
Tatum usually brushes stuff like this off, because he certainly hears enough of it from the Boston media. But this snub really stuck with him, and the Celtics star voiced his issues with the All-NBA voting process during a chat with J.J. Redick on his "The Old Man and the Three" podcast.
"The fact that somebody can have that thought, and basically cost someone $30 million -- forget about me. Say the next rookie extension guys that come in, that has to change. There is no criteria set for the voters on who they should vote for. It is all opinion-based," said Tatum. "There is no 'they should play in this many games' or 'play in the playoffs' or 'average this many points.' It's, 'I like this guy a little bit more' or certain things like that. There is just a little too much on the line for that."
Tatum said that the money really isn't the issue. He does, however, want the recognition that he believes he deserves.
"There is so much that bothered me with that whole situation. I think the narrative was that 'Jayson didn't make All NBA and he lost $30 million.' From that headline, no one is going to feel bad for me. I still got $175 million and I don't want anyone to feel bad about the money part," he said. "But as the results came out and I looked at how people voted, and what went into the media members process of voting, that was the frustrating part."
Last season, Tatum averaged a career-high 26.4 points off 46 percent shooting overall and 39 percent from three-point range, to go with a career-best 8.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game. He mad multiple 50-point games for the Celtics, but the team struggled overall. They finished a disappointing 36-36 and had to win a play-in game just to earn a first-round matchup with the Brooklyn Nets, who sent the C's packing with a gentleman's sweep.
Tatum understands that team success factors into All-NBA voting, but feels like he is held to a much higher standard than other stars in the league.
"I'm certain you can't find one person in the media that said I had a 'monster year,'" he said. "Seventh seed, two games above .500; It's whatever, I wasn't an MVP candidate or anything like that. But then there are guys that averaged, I don't know, 19 and 10, 19-10-4, and you go on TV and it's like, 'They are having a monster season.'"
Tatum and Redick both voiced their disapproval with voters having to select guards, forwards and centers, since an inferior player may lose a spot on the All-NBA roster if there are too many "good" forwards and not enough "good" guards. Both said they would prefer a simplified system where voters simply pick the best 15 players in the league to make up the All-NBA squads.
