Jayson Tatum - Kevin Garnett/Dominique Wilkins comparisons


My Jayson Tatum/Dominique Wilkins comparison is really about the fact that both of these guys absolutely love to dunk the ball. Jayson's jams are not at dramatic or athletic as Nique's, and he is not ready to become Human Highlight Film #2, but he is having fun trying. Wilkins' dunks were acrobatic and often looked like an in-game dunk contest. In contrast, Tatum just gets the job done with minimal flash.


In the win last night versus the Brooklyn Nets, Jayson garnered 14 points, six rebounds, three steals and an astounding six blocks. Tatum continues to be clutch in the closing minutes of games, and he often gets comparisons to present and former NBA greats. This is MassLive's Jay King:

Tatum has not needed to evolve into a fourth-quarter factor. He arrived in the NBA like that, he has repeatedly proven that, and he just did it one more time Saturday night, breaking the Brooklyn Nets with back-to-back buckets in the final minutes.

...he became the second teenager since 1983-84 to record six blocks and three steals in the same game (the other was Kevin Garnett)


In a past article concerning collegian Mohamed Bamba, one of our readers, Brother Andrej, posed a good question relative to the connection between wide shoulders and the ability to fill out (gain muscle). Look at Jayson in the above tweet/video, paying attention to the shoulders, and I will cover this subject in a future article. It concerns mesomorphs. Tatum falls very much into that category and could very well be playing four positions down the line and be the occasional rim protector/defender/rebounder/scorer in certain matchups. Here is the NBA's Marc D"Amico on Jayson's clutch play:

You want winning plays? The Celtics gave you three of them Saturday night – all in a span of just 30 seconds.

Jayson Tatum made the first winning play when he took a pass along the right sideline from Kyrie Irving, ripped through and past his defender and drove along the baseline for a monster dunk with 1:16 left in the game. That bucket put Boston on top 84-83.

In a rare occurrence, Kyrie Irving made a poor decision just seconds later. He forced up a transition layup between three defenders and the shot missed high off the backboard, coming nowhere near the rim. Irving, however, didn’t give up on the moment, and he came through with a clutch winning play in the following moments.

Boston’s All-Star point guard timed his jump perfectly after his miss, as he rose up with his left hand and stole the rebound away from 6-foot-8 forward DeMarre Carroll. Carroll tumbled to the floor, and Irving quickly tossed a pass out to Tatum, who was standing unguarded in the left corner of the court.

Swish!

Dominique Wilkins did play for the Boston Celtics in the 1994-05 season. Some of his dunks can be seen in the video below. I am certain we will be seeing many more clips of present-Celtic, Jayson Tatum in the future. His dunks don't yet have the flair of Nique's, but he is a lot of fun to watch.



Follow Tom at @TomLaneHC

Photo via Winslow Townson/AP Photo
Video via sauhadjj3

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