Former Boston Celtics legend Paul Pierce hailed Jayson Tatum and made a bold statement by calling him the best American player in the NBA over LeBron James. However, later he felt that Tatum still needs to overtake Stephen Curry to attain that feat.
In a recent episode of Pierce and Garnett’s “The Ticket and the Truth” podcast, the two former players discussed who they believed are the best American-born players in the NBA. Therefore they talked about Pierce’s tweet on X (formerly Twitter) where he gave Jayson Tatum that crown.
Pierce highlighted how Tatum has grown into a superstar with every year and for him, he is the best American-born player in the league. “Right now the best American in the league is Jayson Tatum and this is not you know, right now. I mean you look at his growth, you see what he has done over the past couple of years,” Pierce said in the podcast.
The former NBA Champion with the Boston Celtics highlighted how the current Celtic superstar has been exceptional in the All-Star Game and also in the playoffs. He feels that Tatum has passed LeBron James and Kevin Durant in the context of this season.
“He has been first-team All-NBA, hit you with the 55 in the All-Star, hit you with another 50 Game 7 versus Philly and I am just looking around, I think he is past KD, I think he’s passed LeBron. I mean today, you know what I am saying?”
However, he then shared how Stephen Curry is probably the only one whom Tatum needs to better to get the crown of the best American-born player in the league. “I think the only argument you really got maybe is, maybe Steph, as far as the American players today. But outside of that, I think he is past the other guys, so when I say that, I really believe he is the best American player,” Pierce said.
Tatum has grown in stature with every passing season and has developed into a superstar in no time for the Celtics. He is averaging 26.9 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 4.0 assists for the Eastern Conference-leading Boston Celtics (11-3) this season.
He will look to continue this form going forward as he aims to win the NBA Championship this season. If he manages to achieve that then Pierce’s statement will be more or less justified.
