Celtics' Jayson Tatum reveals real reason why he clapped back at Brandon Jennings
Yesterday at 10:25 AM
BOSTON — Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum is used to criticism, and there was ample opportunity for it on Friday night. The C’s fell to the Sacramento Kings, 114-97, and dropped to 8-7 in their last 15 games.
But before Boston suffered its largest defeat of the season, Tatum engaged in a war of words with former Milwaukee Bucks scorer Brandon Jennings. The NBA veteran insulted Tatum on the “Gil’s Arena” podcast, labeling him one of the “softest” superstars to ever play for the Green Team. Shortly after, Tatum took to Instagram to respond by mocking Jennings’ comments.
Jayson Tatum has a message for Brandon Jennings…
"SoFtesT SuPeRstar in CeLtiC HiStoRy."
(Via @jaytatum0 on IG) pic.twitter.com/SF55vBKfOT
— Daniel Donabedian (@danield1214) January 9, 2025
Despite all his success and status as a reigning champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist, Tatum has received plenty of unfair criticism during his time in the NBA. The Celtics star rarely responds to it, yet he had time for Jennings. When asked why he bothered clapping back, the five-time All-Star played it cool during his postgame press conference.
“I don’t know, I had some time yesterday,” he said with a smile.
Jayson Tatum on responding to Brandon Jennings' comments and if he's surprised by the criticism he still gets:
"I wasn't mad, I had some time."
"It comes with being one of the best players in the league … I'm not the first superstar to deal with this." pic.twitter.com/Ra9iqSvGNN
— Daniel Donabedian (@danield1214) January 11, 2025
Tatum later mentioned that nothing said about him really surprises him anymore and that it’s all part of the job.
“I think it comes with being one of the best players in the league, and the more you accomplish, the more it gives people opportunity to nitpick at things,” he stated. “If I wasn’t who I was or not at a certain status, people probably wouldn’t talk about me as much. But, you know, I’m not the first superstar in league history to deal with this.”
How did Jayson Tatum play after being called “soft”?
Jennings’ chatter aside, Tatum was far from his best on Friday evening. Although the St. Louis native notched 15 points and 12 rebounds in 35 minutes, he also turned the ball over eight times. That’s only one less turnover than the Kings had all game.
It wasn’t just Tatum who struggled. No Celtic starter shot over 50% from the field and guards Derrick White and Jrue Holiday combined for eight points.
To make matters even worse, Boston was embarrassed on the glass. The Kings nabbed 16 offensive rebounds, doubling the Celtics’ eight offensive boards. In addition, Kings center Domantas Sabonis corralled a career-high 28 rebounds, the most the Celtics have allowed to a single player since 2002, per Cameron Tabatabaie of Celtics Wire.
Due to the Celtics’ woeful rebounding, the Kings put up 102 shots in 48 minutes of play. That’s just two attempted field goals away from the most the C’s have allowed to an opponent all season. Meanwhile, Boston had 84 shots and went 26.8% from deep.
“We got to be better in all areas of the game,” Tatum asserted.
“Tonight, I know they played better than we did,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said of the Kings. “They’re a revived team that just played better than us.”
Joe Mazzulla called the Kings a "revived team" after winning 6 games in a row: pic.twitter.com/bs2KLoWOeI
— Daniel Donabedian (@danield1214) January 11, 2025
Heading into 2025, the Kings were 14-19 and getting acquainted with a brand new head coach, Doug Christie. They’re now 19-19 and on a six-game winning streak, the longest of their 2024-25 campaign.
The Celtics are 3-2 to start the new year and 27-11 overall. They’ll look to respond on Sunday afternoon against the struggling New Orleans Pelicans, who sit in last place in the Western Conference with a dismal 8-31 record. Boston is 9-1 after suffering a loss and will try and maintain that tendency of bouncing back against a team that doesn’t have much to lose.
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