If you were among the fans of the Boston Celtics who did not see them making it to the NBA Finals while the team slogged through the first half of the 2021-22 season as a .500 ball club, don’t be too hard on yourself — you were far from alone. In fact, even All-NBA Celtics forward Jayson Tatum‘s father Justin wasn’t sure they’d make the postseason, never mind the 2022 Finals.
Speaking with Bally Sports’ Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson recently, the elder Tatum said “I didn’t think they were going to make the playoffs at the beginning of the season. Y’all are bad, y’all don’t share the ball, you don’t do a lot of this — and this was in November, December before they went on that run.”
“Who are we going to trade,” he asked rhetorically, transporting himself back in his mind to that frustrating moment for Celtics fans everywhere. “Who are we going to let go? We’ve got to figure out something.”