Jayson Tatum 'chasing greatness' as Boston Celtics gear up for title defence vs Denver Nuggets in Abu Dhabi

After securing NBA championship, Olympic gold and a record contract, star forward wants to raise the bar even higher

The word ‘great’ gets thrown around a lot in sport, but when it comes to discussing ‘the greatest’, conversation becomes much more nuanced.

It takes a lot to be dubbed a GOAT (greatest of all time) in professional sport and Boston Celtics’ forward Jayson Tatum does not shy away from stating he aspires to be called that one day.

“Absolutely,” is his unflinching response when asked if he’d like to be regarded as the greatest of all time in the future.

Since he helped guide the Celtics to their first NBA championship title since 2008 four months ago, Tatum has made it clear his ambition goes beyond winning one ring.

“I think it’s important to acknowledge history, acknowledge the guys that came before you, the teams, they kind of set the standard. But you could never dream too big,” Tatum told The National in an interview at Etihad Arena on Thursday, ahead of the Celtics’ upcoming preseason clashes with the Denver Nuggets at the NBA Abu Dhabi Games.

“Chasing greatness should be the goal, if you fall a little bit shorter of whatever that looks like, at least you know you gave yourself the chance to chase that.”

Tatum spent six weeks of his summer rubbing shoulders with greatness as he teamed up with the likes of LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry, on the USA squad that secured gold at the Paris Olympics.

While the players have since switched their focus to their respective teams and are preparing for the new NBA season, Tatum shared they’re all still in touch on a group chat, where apparently James shares the most memes.

“We still talk pretty frequently. We won a gold medal; we are bonded forever through that,” added Tatum.

The 26-year-old says getting an up-close and personal look at what makes those players great was an invaluable experience and that the Olympics as a whole showed him how much the game has grown globally.

This was Tatum’s second Olympic gold medal, having also been part of USA’s triumph in Tokyo 2020. But he admittedly went through difficult moments in Paris, where head coach Steve Kerr did not play him in two of the six games, and gave him limited minutes otherwise.

Much has been made of Tatum’s reduced role at the Olympics, especially given he was coming off an impressive run to the NBA title and had just signed the largest contract in NBA history.

The Celtics announced in July that Tatum agreed to a five-year, $315 million supermax extension, which would keep the five-time All-Star in Boston through the 2029-30 season.

Last week, Tatum said Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla was “probably the happiest person in the world that I didn't win Finals MVP and that I didn't play in two of the games in the Olympics”.

Jayson Tatum of Boston Celtics during a practice session in Abu Dhabi. EPA

On Thursday, Tatum elaborated on why Mazzulla found value in him facing adversity.

“Just in a world where you got a new contract, you’re on the cover of NBA2K, cover of Sports Illustrated, you win a championship, where everything is going how you want it to, there’s a little stint in there where things didn’t go as well as you want it to, how are you going to respond, how are you going to come back even better?” explained Tatum.

“So that’s the challenge.”

Mazzulla is renowned for his philosophical approach to coaching, and his out-of-the-box methods.

He uses animal kingdom metaphors, shows his players everything from football highlights to footage of orcas attacking their prey, and has encouraged his team to not view themselves as defending champions when they tip off their new NBA campaign later this month because he finds the term too “passive-aggressive”.

“Joe is very unique in the sense of… what I really respect about him is he does things in his own way,” said Tatum of Mazzulla, who at 35, became the youngest coach to win an NBA championship since 1970.

“He really has come into his own as a coach and coaches the team how he sees is the best way to do it from his own perspective. Whether other people agree with him or not, I can respect that he does it in his own way.”

After suffering heartbreaking defeats and multiple near-misses in the last few years, Tatum and his Boston teammates are in a very different position entering this 2024-25 season.

The league has not witnessed a back-to-back champions since the Warriors defended their title in 2017-2018 and given the intense summer Tatum, and his fellow Celtics/USA teammates Derrick White and Jrue Holiday had, fatigue and emotional wear and tear could play a factor in this upcoming term.

“We just got to be aware, aware of that, aware of the moment, stay as fresh as possible. There’s little things you can do throughout the season to stay young. Because it’s a lot playing to June 17th, but that’s part of chasing greatness,” said Tatum.

While several teams in the Eastern Conference have made changes to their roster – most notably the New York Knicks – the Boston group has remained mostly intact with Tatum and NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown once again ready to lead the squad.

There had been doubts early on about whether the Tatum-Brown tandem would work but the pair have learnt to co-exist over the years and their on-court chemistry has delivered a record-breaking 18th NBA title to the city of Boston.

On the key to forming a successful partnership with Brown, Tatum said: “Just growing up. I’m 26, been in the league, going on my eighth year now, you have to go through the process of maturing, as a man, maturing as a basketball player in this league. Understanding how each year is different and how you need to be around great players, you need to be in a great organisation to give yourself the best chance to win, which is what we’ve been doing.”

The world will get a chance to get to know a lot more about Tatum when 'Starting 5', the docu-series he is starring in, is released on Netflix next week.

Along with Tatum, the series followed James, Jimmy Butler, Anthony Edwards, and Domantas Sabonis throughout the 2023-34 season, offering a behind-the-scenes perspective to fans of the game.

“I’m just really excited for it to come out. Filming the entire last season, obviously capturing us winning a championship and the behind-the-scenes look, the highest moments and the lowest moments, and everything in between. It was special to be a part of and it’s going to be really cool to see and I think the reception is going to be great,” said Tatum.

The Celtics will receive their championship rings and tip off their title defence on October 22, hosting the Knicks at TD Garden.

“Last year is behind us, we can’t dwell on that, or live in the past. This is a new season, teams have gotten better, the league has shifted and we have to be prepared for that,” stated Tatum.

In the third edition of the NBA Abu Dhabi Games, the Boston Celtics will take on the Denver Nuggets in two preseason encounters on October 4 and 6 at Etihad Arena on Yas Island