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Jayson Tatum’s update with Boston’s “starting six”

Last season, the Celtics started the campaign in complicated circumstances. While they had lost the 2022 Finals to the Warriors, and they thought they would start the campaign with drooling on their lips, Ime Udoka was dismissed by the franchise following his extra-marital affair with a member of his staff…

Joe Mazzulla promoted to “head coach”, Boston thus had a strange season, finally losing in Game 7 of the conference final against Miami. This year, the situation is different since the coach was able to make his mark, with a staff built and built for him at his side, but it is the transfers which could have disrupted the team. Because after the arrival of Kristaps Porzingis in exchange for Marcus Smart during the summer, it was Jrue Holiday who joined Massachusetts, Malcolm Brogdon and Robert Williams having to pack their bags.

The arrival of Jrue Holiday turns everything upside down

A change, at the beginning of October, which upset the balance glimpsed by the players for several months. The entire team was thus prepared to start the matches with Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis on the floor. Except that the arrival of Jrue Holiday necessarily changed everything!

Jayson Tatum took the lead, bringing together the six potential starters to put things right.

“I wanted us to get together in a room and talk about it” he explains to ESPN. “We are all human beings, with feelings, and I opened the debate. Basically, I said, ‘There are six of us. Only five of us can play at the same time. One of us is not always going to finish games. Whether it’s fair or not, JB and I will probably always start and always finish the match…Whether it’s KP or Al, one of you may not finish a match, and you have to accept it’. »

For Kristaps Porzingis, this small meeting was essential. She set the tone for the season, so that everyone understood that there was one goal and one objective, for everyone.

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“Honestly, it was a very important moment for us. We looked into each other’s eyes, we understood that we were there for one thing and that we all had to make sacrifices. »

But who was going to come off the bench? Joe Mazzulla finally opted to start Jrue Holiday, pushing Al Horford to the bench. A choice that the Dominican accepted all the more easily as the leader was ready to take on this role of 6th man, despite his status, since he is the only member of the group to have won the title.

“I was very impressed with Holiday’s commitment to the team, to what we are trying to do”explains the interior. “He’s a guy who doesn’t make excuses. He’s had to go through a lot, with the move and getting used to a new environment, and we’re asking a lot of him.”

Jayson Tatum’s leadership

Kristaps Porzingis was also amazed by the approach of his new teammate, a “top guy”.

“When I walked out of that meeting, my respect for him exploded”assures the Latvian. “And I told him right away. His attitude in this meeting… He said it, he meant it and we knew he meant it (being 6th man). Being an NBA champion, having all this experience and coming to a new team, one of the biggest rivals, and being like that… It set the tone for everyone in that meeting .

In the end, it was Al Horford who made the biggest sacrifice, but the veteran accepted it willingly. And that was the main thing for Jayson Tatum, who enormously respects his elder, with whom he is very close.

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“It was the time to talk about it, if we didn’t agree. I didn’t want before the season started everyone to be like, ‘Yeah, okay. Never mind’. And then, you know, a few defeats follow one another, and the problems accumulate” explains the winger. “It was an opportunity for us to all be on the same page and say we really agree…It was a great meeting.” »

A meeting welcomed by Joe Mazzulla but also by Al Horford, as it also illustrates the developing leadership of Jayson Tatum within the franchise.

“He took on a lot of responsibility. It’s a progression for him, and it’s good to see him continue to move forward as a leader. He doesn’t have to be the guy who talks all the time, but his presence is felt. It guides us more as a group. I feel like he’s starting to really see the bigger picture. »

Enough to allow Boston to start the season well, despite the multiple changes, and to lead the league at the moment, with 11 victories in 14 matches played.

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