BOSTON — Jayson Tatum organized the workouts in Los Angeles that many of the Celtics’ players attended last month in an effort to get a head start on building chemistry between a new-look roster on and off the court. The roughly week-long trip to the west coast included Tatum and LA native Paul George, who returning players Payton Pritchard, Jordan Walsh, Sam Hauser and more received the opportunity to get to know before they all converged on Boston in September. It also gave Mike Conley Jr. his
introduction to his new team.
“From the outside looking in, I always thought he was one of the best players in the league,” Conley said. “Getting to know him now, he’s a guy that I feel like is really coming into his own as a leader, a guy that’s ready to make a jump, I think after the last couple of years with the injury.”
“He called everybody and said, let’s go workout, let’s go meet,” Conley recalled. “Let’s spend about 7-8 days out there, go golf, go out to eat. I feel like he’s setting up all kinds of things off the court. He’s bringing in huddles after practices. After every workout we we have, he has something to say, calling guys out, just really taking ownership of the situation, so that’s big.”
The newest Celtics see a vocal and involved Tatum through their first impressions of him, and Joe Mazzulla left room on media day for Tatum’s voice to grow into his 10th season. Tatum typically leads quietly by example, teammates have long observed, through his work ethic, consistent availability and versatile and unselfish approach to the game. Mazzulla said on Wednesday that he wants Tatum to continue that approach on the floor. Off it, Jaylen Brown’s absence leaves a void where he embraced an outspoken approach to leadership.
Payton Pritchard noticeably spoke out more often about play style preferences, things that the team has to do better while accepting various roles to make the team work. Mazzulla, the tone-setter in many ways, stressed a culture of connectivity since the offseason, acting on it through his trips to Nashville, Spain, Portugal, Dallas, Iowa and more. He also planned the Charleston, South Carolina trip that the team will take as part of camp next week, sensing a new-look team needed the bonding time after nearly a decade since Brad Stevens’ Newport, Rhode Island trip tipped-off Tatum’s rookie season.
Conley also plans to act as an extension of the coaching staff, pulling teammates aside whenever he sees something, but the Celtics want Tatum to embrace his standing as one of the league’s best players.
“We need him to come in with a high level of effort, a high level of attention to detail and competitiveness on the defensive end,” Mazzulla said. “Reading the game every possession, giving the game and the possession exactly what it needs all the time and playing with a high level of confidence.”
“When he’s at his best, our team’s at its best. Nothing changes in that. It’s been that way for a long time. It’s gotta stay that way.”
Tatum’s emergence into camp came at a time of sweeping change in the organization and inherent consolidation around him following Brown’s departure through an offseason trade. That’ll create a before-and-after storyline, highlighting the differences between George’s dynamic as a teammate in Brown’s place, how the team operates stylistically and the general vibes around it. Tatum and Brown certainly gained breathing room on and off the court following the 2023 Marcus Smart trade after playing alongside and leaning on him for leadership early in their careers. For the first time, Brown leaving centers the team around Tatum.
He’s not looking at it that way, however, stressing the importance of everyone across the roster in his comments at media day. Tatum paid respects, again, to Brown for the time they spent together and emphasized that his camaraderie with George stems from the fact that he idolized the veteran growing up watching him star for the Pacers. Other teammates have shied away from drawing comparisons to the state of the team before and after Brown.
Conley, obviously not present until this year, still sensed that Tatum begins this season wanting to prove something. It’s his first full season back from his Achilles tear, and he’s reflected on the perspective nearly losing his career gave him. He reached 80% this year and now has the chance, with expectations relatively lower for the Celtics compared to their championship-chasing seasons, to power them back to that level, help teammates grow and expand his game.
“This is 9-10 years in the league and if you take a 30,000 foot view on just his career, he’s accomplished a lot,” Mazzulla said on media day. “He’s been through a lot of experiences. That phase of his career, being coached by Brad, coming in as a rookie, going through all those Eastern Conference Game 7s and all those journeys, and then being coached by Ime, getting to the Finals … getting hurt and the process of coming back … every experience has to make you better and get you closer to the person and player that you’re trying to be.”
“I think he does a great job of learning from those. This is the next step. This is the next phase of that.”
