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Eddie House uses LeBron example to defend Tatum’s mindset vs. Warriors originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
For Boston Celtics fans, Wednesday night’s game against the Golden State Warriors was Jayson Tatum’s chance to exact “revenge” on Steve Kerr for benching him twice at the 2024 Paris Olympics. For Tatum, however, it was just another Wednesday.
The Celtics star shut down the “revenge” narrative after Boston’s 118-112 loss to Golden State, insisting any injustice Kerr caused him over the summer wasn’t on his mind and calling out those who expected him to be more fiery Wednesday night.
“People want me to be louder. People want me to be mean or whatever,” Tatum said. “One thing about Jayson is like, I’m always going to do what the f— I want to do and approach things the way I want to approach and what I feel is sincere to who I am as a person.”
Tatum clearly is comfortable with how he approaches the game, regardless of whether people like it or not. That self-confidence is very impressive to former Celtics guard Eddie House, who saw first-hand what happens when superstars try to play outside themselves.
House was a member of the 2010-11 Miami Heat in the first season of the “Big Three” era after LeBron James famously took his talents to South Beach to team up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. And as House explained Thursday on Arbella Early Edition, James was so caught up with sending a message to his detractors after leaving his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers that it impacted his game.
“He was angry, and LeBron never played the game angry,” House said. “He always was happy, had fun and was happy-go-lucky. It was all about his teammates and stuff. (But) he had a chip on his shoulder because how everybody reacted to The Decision, and he wasn’t the best version of himself.”
While James still had a strong statistical season, his Heat superteam fell to the Dallas Mavericks in the 2011 NBA Finals. James was the same age as Tatum at the time (26), so House lauds Tatum’s ability at such a young age to stay true to himself — especially because it delivers results.
“I think self-recognition and self-reflection is the…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/eddie-house-uses-lebron-example-150240657.html
Author : NBC Sports Boston
Publish date : 2024-11-08 15:02:00
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