Leaders, especially in the sporting world, are expected to act a certain way. They shout, scream, and yell to motivate others and do everything emphatically. But, Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum argues that there's many kinds of leadership, not just the most obvious, intense style.
In the third episode of his ongoing YouTube video series, "Summer of Jayson," Tatum sat down and explained how he likes to guide the Celtics. The accomplished Celtics forward, who's now in his tenth year with the Green Team, said he prefers to lead by example. And while he respects the more vocal leaders who came before him, that's never been his modus operandi in the locker room.
"I'm not Kevin Garnett," Tatum began. "That loud, 'rah-rah' type of person. I always
say do it organically. I love KG to death. That's just not my personality."
Although Tatum is rarely in his teammates' faces on the sidelines, that doesn't mean he takes a passive approach to leadership. He communicates often with his fellow Celtics, including this summer when he set up unofficial team workouts (and golf trips) in Los Angeles.
"I'm not necessarily as quiet as Tim Duncan neither," he said. "I'm Jayson Tatum."
If Garnett and Duncan are on two opposite ends of leadership, Tatum is somewhere in the middle. Sitting between two Hall of Famers isn't a bad place to be, so it doesn't seem like the six-time All-Star is changing his leadership style anytime soon.
"The people in the building got to respect you," Tatum stated. "You got to prove that I show up, I do things the right way. And I've earned that respect, right? I came back from tearing my Achilles in 298 days. Nobody can ever question how much I love this game or how hard I work."
Tatum struggled to lead the Celtics on the court during their regular-season opener, as they blew a 22-point lead to the Detroit Pistons and fell 121-113 on the road. The 2024 NBA champion scored just 13 points in 38 minutes and failed to hit a single triple on 7 attempts.
He'll look to bounce back from that performance on one of the biggest stages: a primetime game against the reigning champion New York Knicks on Friday night at TD Garden.
"I understand my voice carries and we all got different roles on this team," Tatum said. "We're all in this together."
Listen to "Havlicek Stole the Pod" on:
Blue Wire: https://tiny.ee/CdKp
iTunes: https://tiny.ee/RK47
YouTube: https://tiny.ee/cOW3
This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Jayson Tatum describes leadership style as somewhere between two Hall of Fame bigs
