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Despite leading his team back to the NBA Finals, Jayson Tatum has received a sizable amount of criticism. Following some of his recent comments, one current player had to distance himself from the narrative around the Boston Celtics star.
During Thursday's episode of "Get Up" on ESPN, the panel talked about Josh Hart saying Derrick White was more impactful than Tatum. Analyst Mike Greenberg feels many people underestimate the All-Star forward.
"I think it is part of a larger conversation, which is that it feels as though there is this desire, I feel, like, to sort of diminish Jayson Tatum," Greenberg said. "I don't know why. I'm not sure what it is."
After seeing the clip on his feed, the New York Knicks forward set the record straight. Just because he said White was more impactful does not mean he was trying to diminish what Jayson Tatum does on the floor.
"Yall realize saying something is more impactful isn’t belittling the other guy right? Leave me out this 'desire to belittle JT' narrative," Hart wrote.
While he has caught a lot of flack through the first three rounds, Tatum has done a fine job leading the charge for the Celtics. This postseason, he is posting averages of 26.0 points, 10.4 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.1 steals.
After sweeping the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference finals, Tatum and the Celtics are in the finals for the second time in three years. They now await their opponent as the Dallas Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves continue their series.
What did Josh Hart say about Derrick White and Jayson Tatum?
The comments that the hosts on ESPN were talking about came from an appearance Josh Hart did on "The Pivot" podcast. During the interview, he was asked to name his top five most impactful players still left in the postseason.
Hart started by naming star players like Anthony Edwards, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. When getting toward the end of his list, he made a case for Derrick White over Jayson Tatum.
"I might put Derrick White more impactful than JT," Hart said. "Look at every main play in the last six minutes of the fourth to overtime. Every big play, he made. He's probably one of the most impactful players because he does everything on the court."
Since coming over in a trade from the San Antonio Spurs, White has been one of the Celtics' best players. He and Jrue Holiday form one of the best defensive backcourts in the league, and the veteran guard is capable of having big nights on offense. During the postseason, White is averaging 17.8 ppg, 4.1 rpg and 4.6 apg while shooting 40.7% from beyond the arc.
Hart might put White over Jayson Tatum because they have similar play styles. The Knicks wing is also a scrappy high-impact role player who fills the gaps alongside star talent. Nonetheless, he is clearly not trying to take away from what Tatum has done for Boston as their top talent.
