Jayson Tatum earns NBA's first Eastern Conference Player of the Month award for third straight season
BOSTON -- Jayson Tatum is having an MVP-like start to the season for the Boston Celtics, and brought home Eastern Conference Player of the Month honors for his work during the months of October and November. This marks the third straight season that Tatum has earned the NBA's first Player of the Month award.
Tatum is off to the best start of his career, averaging 28.4 points, 8.6 rebounds, 5.6 assists, and 1.3 steals per game -- leading the Celtics in each of those categories. He also has a team-high nine double-doubles, and is well on his way to surpassing the 31 double-doubles he logged two seasons ago.
Tatum has been incredibly efficient with his shot to start the 2024-25 season, knocking down 45.4 percent from the field and 37.4 percent from three-point range for Boston.
Jayson Tatum's October-November to remember
Tatum was the only player in the East to average at least 28.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 1.0 steals per game to start the season. He scored the third-most points in the conference with 546, and ranked first in clutch points (46), tied for first in clutch assists (12), and third in total three-pointers made (76).
His play helped the Celtics get off to a 16-3 start (Boston now sits 17-4), which included a seven-game win streak.
Tatum's biggest shot over the season's opening months came on Nov. 16, when he drained a game-winning three against the Toronto Raptors to lift Boston to a 126-123 overtime victory at TD Garden. He finished just shy of a triple double that night with 24 points, 11 rebounds, and nine assists.
He saved his best for last though, as Tatum poured in 35 points off 12-of-18 shooting (and 4-of-8 from three) and pulled down a season-high 14 rebounds in a 138-129 NBA Cup win over the Bulls in Chicago on Nov. 29. Tatum became just the fourth Celtics player to put up such a stat line, joining Bill Russell, Kevin McHale, and Larry Bird in that exclusive group.
Tatum trails only Larry Bird in Celtics team history
This marks the fifth time that Tatum has taken home a Player of the Month award, which is the second-most in Celtics team history. He trials only Bird in that category, who took home Eastern Conference Player of the Month honors seven times over his career.
If Tatum's team-leading numbers hold, he'll become only the second player in NBA history to lead his team in points, rebounds, assists, steals, and three-point field goals in multiple seasons. Bird is the only other players in Celtics history to accomplish such a feat.
