The Boston Celtics have a surplus of talent and that means that head coach Joe Mazzulla will need to make some tough decisions in the regular season.
He will have to choose the starting lineup as well as the five players who close each game.
Some players will have to make sacrifices and Celtics star Jayson Tatum is well aware of that.
After Tuesday night’s preseason game, he spoke about the “adjustment period” that the team is going through, via NBC Sports Boston.
"Any given night, somebody might come off the bench, somebody might not finish. It's on all of us to understand it's for the betterment of the team. We have to buy into that."
Jayson Tatum talks C's trying different starting lineups pic.twitter.com/J08qn0yeQQ
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) October 18, 2023
Tatum mentioned that Al Horford came off the bench on Tuesday night.
To some, that might be considered a demotion.
But Horford, like the rest of the team, is buying into the plans that Mazzulla has made.
He has a team-first mentality, which Tatum says will be vital in the months ahead as the lineup changes and roster alterations are made.
As for Tatum, he likely won’t ever be a bench player.
The four-time All-Star scored 30.1 points and 8.8 rebounds last season and further proved himself as the star of the team.
There will definitely be changes throughout the season and the roster will surely fluctuate at times, but Tatum will be the reliable center of it all.
The Celtics will have to accept changes if they wish to return to the NBA Finals.
Tatum says they are ready to do that.
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