To most observers, Jayson Tatum had a clear opportunity at revenge on Wednesday night when taking on Steve Kerr and the Warriors. The Celtics All-Star faced off against Kerr for the first time after a surprise benching during the Paris Olympics back in August. Yet after Tatum fell short with 32 points in the 118-112 defeat, he acknowledged that settling the score with Kerr was not on his radar.
“It wasn’t on my mind,” Tatum said. “Just another Wednesday, another game, another opportunity to come in and try to be the best player I can be and another day to just try to get a win.”
Like Tatum, Kerr downplayed the situation before the game while also acknowledging no regret about how he handled. Still, it was evident in Tatum’s game that he wasn’t trying to prove a point or play hero ball all night. Facing a steady barrage of double teams all night, Tatum earned praise from his coach for making the right read for much of the loss.
“I thought he did great,” Joe Mazzulla said. “I thought he just gave the game what it needed, whether it was passing, whether it was screening, whether it was finishing. I mean, 50% from the field, 50% from three, got to the free throw line. So I thought he handled it well. I thought he took on the challenge of the physicality and changed up how he was attacking and found his teammates and made shots he needed to.”
That mentality was addressed by Tatum after the game as he tried to explain how the matchup wasn’t as dramatic as others made it out to be.
“That’s part of this job,” Tatum said. “That’s what I’ve been dealing with my entire career. People want me to be louder, people want me to be meaner, whatever. The thing about Jayson is like, I’m always going to do what the f*** I wanna do and approach things how I want to approach it. And how I feel is sincere to who I am as a person.
“Not that it comes from a bad place; sometimes it comes from a good place. People react differently. It’s easy to say, like, if they were in my shoes, what they would do. So I appreciate it when it comes from a good place. But like I said, I’m always going to react, respond, and approach things the way that I want to.”
Tatum’s own maturity during his eighth season in the NBA has gone a long way in helping him adapt that mentality.
“I’m very comfortable in my own skin; I’m comfortable in the things that I’ve accomplished,” Tatum explained. “I know who I am, and I’m comfortable with making my own decisions the way I want to make them and doing things the way I want to. When you’re younger, you’re very consumed in terms of pleasing people that you don’t know or things like that. But if I do things the way I want to do it, then I can live with the result of it in every situation. That’s where I’m at in my life.”
