Jayson Tatum named a first-time All-Star

Jayson Tatum, getting treatment before returning from a three-game absence for last night’s game against Golden State, issued a statement from the trainer’s room after making his first NBA All-Star team as a reserve.

“Definitely it is an honor. I am extremely blessed and grateful. Third year to make the All-Star team it is a surreal feeling. I’m just very excited and it is a dream come true.”

Tatum is one of six first-time all-stars, also including Miami’s Bam Adebayo, Indiana’s Domantas Sabonis, Utah’s Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell, and New Orleans’ Brandon Ingram.

Though he could still make the team as an injury replacement — the snubbed Bradley Beal would have the greatest claim on that distinction — this turned out not to be Jaylen Brown’s year.

“They’re both very deserving,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said of his two young stars, Tatum and Brown. “We’ve said all along the most important thing is not to be named an All-Star, it’s to be playing like one. Both of them are playing like one, both of them have had great years. Whether they make it, whether they don’t, has no impact on how good they’ve been for us.”

Golden State coach Steve Kerr, an assistant on last summer’s team USA staff, is impressed by the young star he got to know.

“Well, I was with him this summer in the World Cup. So for six weeks I got to spend time with him and got to know him. He’s just so gifted. He’s so talented,” said Kerr. “His rise has been, I think, expected in a lot of ways because of his talent. But that would be selling him short too because it doesn’t just happen. He’s put the work in. I think he’s a really good teammate, he’s a guy who has the ability to be one of the best two-way players in the game. And I think you’re seeing that defensively this year. And he has a great environment playing in this organization, playing for Brad and his staff. All of those things have mattered and helped him develop. I’m really happy for him because I really enjoyed him (with Team USA).”

Paying tribute

The Celtics held a Kobe Bryant tribute prior to last night’s game against Golden State, and the late Lakers star’s connection to Boston considered, the moment was stirring.

“Everybody is going to grieve and heal in their own ways, but I think the tributes and the people taking a moment to reflect is always the thing to do,” said Stevens. “I’m glad we’re doing that, I think it’s great. Boston fans are super passionate about their teams, they love their teams, but this is a great example of the respect they have for the people they rooted against. People of New England understand how special Kobe was and what he brought to basketball in this area because of the great battles he had against the Celtics.”

Nowhere, of course, was that tribute going to be more deeply felt than among Stevens’ players.

“I said this a couple of hours after he passed — for this generation he was their Jordan and he continued to give back to the game,” said the Celtics coach. “He gave back to the young guys in the game. He was great at creating a relationship with guys and helping them. That’s the cool part of it — he wasn’t just an idol, but for a lot of these guys an accessible idol.”

Hard work

Tatum had to work hard for Thursday night’s return. Not surprisingly, he came back under a minutes restriction.

“Usually when those things happen, it’s somewhere around the 25-minute mark,” said Stevens. “A little bit more, a little bit less, but he won’t play long stretches, he won’t play 12 minutes straight.”

If there was one thing Tatum learned from his position on the bench during the Celtics’ just-completed 2-1 three-game road trip, it was that this lineup is adept at withstanding injuries.

“We can be really good. It’s about halfway through the season. We’re not perfect, we have some games I know we wish we had back, but we compete on a nightly basis,” said Tatum. “And we overcome whatever it is, whatever, who is out, we haven’t played that many games where everybody was healthy, so that’s been the toughest part.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2GG4EPz