Jayson Tatum opens up after reaching Celtics milestone

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Jayson Tatum

After the Boston Celtics defeated the Brooklyn Nets on November 4, Jayson Tatum discovered in his postgame interview with NBC Sports Boston’s Abby Chin that he became the youngest player in franchise history to score 10,000 points. Tatum expressed his honest thoughts on accomplishing such a feat.

“This is something special. That’s cool. I was just lucky enough to be with a great franchise. I had some great teammates (and) some great coaches that helped me get 10,000 points. “Hopefully I still have a lot ahead of me and can win a lot more games,” Tatum said. per NBC Sports Boston’s X account.

Tatum then expressed how honored he was to be the youngest Celtic to reach 10,000 points via his X account.

Taylor Snow of Celtics.com posted on his X account that Tatum is also the 10th youngest NBA player to reach 10,000 points.

Add this to the many accomplishments Tatum has on his resume since being drafted by the Celtics in 2017. He likely would have reached the milestone sooner if the Celtics hadn’t built talented teams around him since the beginning of his NBA career. Tatum doesn’t seem too disappointed about this as his focus is on winning more games.

Jayson Tatum didn’t want the Celtics to draft him

During his postgame press conference, Jayson Tatum explained why he didn’t want to play for the Celtics when they drafted him in 2017.

“First of all, I didn’t want to come because I didn’t think I was going to play,” Tatum said. per NBC Sports Boston. “They had Gordon (Hayward), Jaylen Brown, Isaiah Thomas and (Marcus) Smart, and I didn’t think I was good enough to be on that team. So it didn’t even cross my mind how to finish or finish a game, all I cared about was getting in the game and starting.”

Coming into the NBA, Tatum wasn’t the talk of the town when the Celtics showed up. In 2017, the Celtics signed Hayward and traded him for Kyrie Irving, two established NBA stars. After Hayward suffered a leg injury on opening night, Tatum more or less replaced what Hayward would have brought with him.

Since then, Tatum has become one of the Celtics’ biggest stars in franchise history. An impressive feat considering how many Hall of Famers played for them.

Al Horford congratulates Jayson Tatum

After the Celtics defeated the Nets, Al Horford congratulated Tatum on his performance via his X account.

The admiration between the two is mutual, as Tatum Horford exclaimed during his postgame interview with Chin.

“I love Al. This is one of my favorite teammates of all time. He is a big reason for my personal success, for everyone’s success and is the ultimate team player. And we’re just very lucky to have him.”

Horford played with Tatum in all but two of the seven NBA seasons Tatum played. In the time the two have played together, they have made several extended playoff runs. This includes participation in three Eastern Conference Finals and one NBA Finals.

Matt John covers the Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics for Heavy.com. The Massachusetts native has been covering the NBA since 2018, with stints at FanSided, Basketball News and Basketball Insiders. More about Matt John