For the first time in two years, NBA All-star Jayson Tatum is able to take some rest in the offseason. The twenty-four-year-old Tatum has almost played an entire extra season with playoff games. The small forward is only getting started in his career but already has played 74 playoff games.
Is it too much though? To put things in perspective, The Boston Herald’s Mark Murphy counted the number of career playoff games for Larry Bird and Tatum is about halfway to the number of career playoff games as the legend. Larry Legend did miss a good part of the later part of his career because of back problems and had to retire after only 12 years. At this rate, Tatum is on pace to far out-do Bird in playoff wins.
Resting the team’s most critical player is super important if the Celtics have any chance of getting back to The Finals and getting another chance at a championship.
So even at this young age, Jayson Tatum has to keep an eye on wear and tear. It’s not just that the 24-year-old Celtics star has crammed 74 playoff games into five seasons. He’s basically played the last two years without a break. https://t.co/aPwmrj9jUJ
— Boston Herald (@bostonherald) August 14, 2022
“That’s a helluva two years of basketball,” related Tatum’s trainer Drew Hanlen. “After the Finals he was able to give his body a break, and mentally and emotionally gave his mind a break.”
“Now he’s back and starting to work on the areas that we think will help him take that next step.”
With the Celtics having a lot more depth in terms of players who can affect games and make winning plays it now falls on head coach Ime Udoka to handle the rotation while also going for the number one seed in the East.
Either way, the Celtics can hope for more success in the future.
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