Jayson Tatum is making an early MVP case. Is this the season he gains entry into exclusive club?

To most of us, a six-week honeymoon sounds like an eternity to celebrate. To Jayson Tatum, though, it must have felt like the blink of an eye.

Tatum went to bed on June 18 on top of the world, Champagne-soaked and smiling through cigar smoke after helping lead the Boston Celtics to a record-setting 18th NBA title. Hoisting the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy for the first time represented a golden exclamation point punctuating a season for the ages — the culmination of everything he’d worked his whole life to achieve.

By the time he turned in on July 28, though, that soaring sensation was long gone. He’d spent the opening game of the 2024 Summer Olympics seated, watching the rest of Team USA take down Serbia — a DNP-CD draped in red, white and blue; his honeymoon in Paris over before it ever even started.

Two weeks later, Tatum came home from France with a second gold medal … and a whole mess of mixed emotions to sort through.

Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum plays against the Milwaukee Bucks during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

He’d just made his fifth consecutive All-Star appearance and earned his third straight All-NBA First Team selection; just led Boston in points, rebounds and assists en route to the championship; just become the sixth player ever to average 25 points, nine rebounds and five assists per game in a title run; just signed the largest contract in NBA history.

He’d also just gritted through one of the most pronounced cold snaps of his career, shooting 28.3% from 3-point range during the playoffs and going 0-for-16 on jumpers with Team USA; just spent his summer seeing and hearing every last sliver of slander sent his way on TV debate shows, podcasts and social media; just got unceremoniously dropped from the top of the mountain to the bottom of the pecking order, with grenade-throwing pundits proclaiming him not only outside of consideration to be the best player in the NBA, but perhaps not even the best player on his own team.

“I have two [gold medals] now, I have a championship, and everything doesn’t…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-10-30 15:56:00

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