The Boston Celtics have had their fair share of legendary players.
Larry Bird, Bill Russell, Kevin McHale, John Havlicek, Kevin Garnett, Bob Cousy, and Paul Pierce are just a handful of the great players to don their jerseys.
Notably, it didn’t take long before Jayson Tatum started making his way into that list, and Pierce believes he’s on pace to become one of the best to ever do it:
“He’s a generational star,” Pierce said. “When you look at what he’s done in his career at such a young age. Highest All-Star score ever, Game 7 highest score ever, he’s setting NBA records and he’s been in the Conference finals since his first or second year. He’s on pace to be one of the greatest players to ever play this game already. I have no ego in this, game recognize game. He’s doing a lot of things I did but at 6’10”, and I honor that, there’s nothing wrong with that.”
☘️ @paulpierce34 on Jayson Tatum: "He's on pace to be one of the greatest players to ever play the game" pic.twitter.com/mnzmozrRFC
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) May 26, 2023
The Celtics legend recently admitted that Tatum is already a better player than he ever was, and he praised him for all the records he’s already broken and the things he’s done despite being in the league for so little time.
Notably, the Celtics moved on from their Big 3 era — Pierce included — to rebuild, but that rebuild didn’t last long.
Landing a franchise cornerstone like Tatum was more than enough to keep stacking up talent and building a contending team around him.
Tatum has drawn some backlash for not showing up at times in the playoffs, but he’s putting those woes behind him this season after that failed trip to the NBA Finals.
He even set a record for the most points in a Game 7 in the history of the NBA playoffs, and he’s put the team on his shoulders to help them come back from that 0-3 deficit.
We tend to think of Tatum as a veteran, but he’s only 25 years old, so he hasn’t even reached his prime, and that should be a scary thought for the rest of the league.
NEXT: Marcus Smart Explains Why The Celtics Are Playing Well