Getty Jayson Tatum reacted to Gordon Hayward’s comment about the 2018-19 Celtics team not making winning a priority.
Gordon Hayward recently made headlines with his comments about the star-studded 2018-19 Boston Celtics team. The current Charlotte Hornets forward admitted the team that consisted of Hayward, Kyrie Irving, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Marcus Smart, Al Horford, and Terry Rozier, among others, underachieved its way to a 49-win season. They failed to get past the second round of the playoffs.
During a recent appearance on “Podcast P with Paul George,” Hayward admitted that team was talented, but he always said winning wasn’t a priority. Tatum recently chimed in on Hayward’s assessment.
Jayson Tatum Played Key Role on the 2018-19 Celtics Team
Tatum was in his second year in the NBA and put up 15.7 points and 6.0 rebounds. It was his last non-All-Star season in his pro career. Tatum wasn’t supposed to carry that team to a championship. That was Kyrie Irving’s job.
The Celtics made a blockbuster deal to acquire Irving the previous season and also inked Hayward to a free-agent deal. Hayward played five minutes that season after gruesomely injuring his ankle in the season opener. Irving played 60 games before missing the end of the season and all of the postseason with a knee injury. Despite missing the two stars, the Celtics reached the Eastern Conference Finals.
The following season was a complete disappointment in Boston. With Irving and Hayward back in the mix, the Celtics managed to go 49-33 and were fourth in the Eastern Conference. After beating the Milwaukee Bucks in the opener of the conference semifinals, the Celtics dropped four straight, ending a miserable season that was hampered by rumors of locker room discontent.
After the season, Irving left the team for the Brooklyn Nets, opening the door for the Celtics to turn to Tatum and Brown. Tatum made the first of his four straight All-Star Game appearances, and Boston reached the Eastern Conference Finals.
Tatum Reacts to Hayward’s Comment on the 2018-19 Team
On George’s podcast, Hayward admitted that winning wasn’t the primary focus during that ugly 2018-19 Celtics season.
“In my eyes, it was just, we all had too many agendas, and the agenda to win the whole thing was not the main one,” Hayward said.
“I mean, I’m coming back from, the last season I played, I was an All-Star, so I’m trying to prove that I’m still an All-Star. Kyrie was hurt the year before, so he’s trying to prove this is still his team. Then you’ve got JT and Jaylen and Terry coming off where they’re all starting, make it to the Eastern Conference Finals a year before. They’re all trying to prove, like, ‘We’ve arrived.’”
Tatum was asked about Hayward’s comments on Tuesday, January 2. He said Hayward was “kind of right,” but he did say the rumors of locker room issues weren’t true.
“I mean, yeah, that s*** was terrible,” Tatum said, per Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. “You guys saw it. We’ve all talked about it. It didn’t work out how we wanted it to, and we were a very talented team but it just didn’t mesh the way we wanted it to. And that’s all right.
“Guys learned and everybody’s moved on from it. But what Gordon said was kind of right. Guys would come back from injury, guys were trying to prove themselves, like myself. I was trying to be better than I was last year, and it was just kind of a tough year.”
According to Himmelsbach, Tatum said the players liked each other, and there was no locker room tension. He just said they weren’t able to put it all together.
“Everybody wanted to do more,” he said. “And we didn’t quite understand how we all could coexist with each other. And you just learn from that. No matter how talented a team is, it still has to work together and figure it out.”
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