It's simply an example. He just turned 26 in March. Curry was 27 when he first won a title. So was LeBron. Jordan was 28, so was Durant. Jokic is 29. I don't know what his legacy will be, but it has a long way to go.
Tatum has the highest effective FG% in the league in crunch time over the past three postseasons:
Thanks for finding these stats. Could Tatum choose to assert himself more at times? Yes of course, but I always thought the narrative that Tatum isn't clutch was artificially manufactured and your stats back that up.
In the past three seasons and playoffs he's shooting 36.5% in the last 5 minutes of close games and 23% on three pointers. He averaged 3 ppg on 24% shooting in 4th quarters against the Warriors in the finals. He had 5 ppg on 36% shooting and as many turnovers as assists in the 4th quarters against Miami last season in the Eastern Conference finals. He went scoreless in the 4th quarter in three of those losses.
I'm not gonna bother to fact check the rest of your post, but:
I did, but canceled it a while back. It's only $10 a month and a lot of fun if you want to win online arguments.
Sorry, no field goals against the Heat in three of the 4th quarter losses in the Eastern Conference finals. 36% fg, 10% three point, as many turnovers as assists. He still may have been better than he was in the fourth quarters against the Warriors in the finals.
I’m a Celtics fan and “is Tatum good enough to be the best player on a title team?” is 100% a debate worth having — and for what it’s worth, at this point i think he’s just short of that standard.
63% from 3 is insane
Kawhi is well behind Tatum as an offensive player. Kevin Garnett? Are you serious with that? Pierce was the money guy on that team, and then Ray. KG played D. Tatum is a better playoff scorer and player than Wade, who was never the lead guy anyway. Dirk was like 33-34 when he finally won his one title. He was a hell of a scorer, but he had to be because his teams sucked. As a reminder, Tatum just turned 26. Take a look at David Robinson's playoff scoring and tell me he's a more reliable scorer than Tatum. I'm not questioning whether he's an all-time great, he is, but not because of clutch scoring.
www.basketball-reference.com
Lolz, you think Tatum is better than Wade, Dirk, and Kawhi were then.Kawhi is well behind Tatum as an offensive player. Kevin Garnett? Are you serious with that? Pierce was the money guy on that team, and then Ray. KG played D. Tatum is a better playoff scorer and player than Wade, who was never the lead guy anyway. Dirk was like 33-34 when he finally won his one title. He was a hell of a scorer, but he had to be because his teams sucked. As a reminder, Tatum just turned 26. Take a look at David Robinson's playoff scoring and tell me he's a more reliable scorer than Tatum. I'm not questioning whether he's an all-time great, he is, but not because of clutch scoring.
Here's the overall Per Game stats in the playoffs, all time. Tatum is 34th on that list and will move up, since his first two playoff seasons are dragging down the average. He's also averaging 5 assists and 10 boards a game the last two seasons. Is he there with the greatest players of all time like Jordan, LeBron, Duncan and Curry? Of course not.
NBA & ABA Career Playoff Leaders and Records for Points Per Game | Basketball-Reference.com
Checkout the complete list of NBA & ABACareer Leaders and Records for Playoff and more on Basketball-Reference.com
Kawhi is more efficient by like, every metric. He doesn’t need to shoot high volume to get what he gets.Kawhi is well behind Tatum as an offensive player. Kevin Garnett? Are you serious with that? Pierce was the money guy on that team, and then Ray. KG played D. Tatum is a better playoff scorer and player than Wade, who was never the lead guy anyway. Dirk was like 33-34 when he finally won his one title. He was a hell of a scorer, but he had to be because his teams sucked. As a reminder, Tatum just turned 26. Take a look at David Robinson's playoff scoring and tell me he's a more reliable scorer than Tatum. I'm not questioning whether he's an all-time great, he is, but not because of clutch scoring.
Here's the overall Per Game stats in the playoffs, all time. Tatum is 34th on that list and will move up, since his first two playoff seasons are dragging down the average. He's also averaging 5 assists and 10 boards a game the last two seasons. Is he there with the greatest players of all time like Jordan, LeBron, Duncan and Curry? Of course not.
NBA & ABA Career Playoff Leaders and Records for Points Per Game | Basketball-Reference.com
Checkout the complete list of NBA & ABACareer Leaders and Records for Playoff and more on Basketball-Reference.com
Kawhi is an incredible player, but as a scorer over his playoff career? He won a finals MVP averaging 15 ppg. Wade’s numbers are below Tatum‘s numbers in the playoffs. It’s early in Tatum’s career, I suppose if he never does anything else, of course not. But at 26 he’s done quite well.
Dirk's run in 2011 he swept the Lakers who had Kobe, Gasol, Bynum, Odom. He beat OKC 4-1 who had Durant, Westbrook, Harden, Ibaka. He beat the Heat 4-2 who had Lebron, Wade, Bosh. Dirk was unreal in those playoffs and carried a team with no other all-stars over a bunch of other NBA legends/top 50 all-time players. It was one of the best playoff runs ever.
They’re going to blow this chance with the best roster in the league trying to pay like the Warriors.
You’re talking about one specific run for each guy. Dirk’s came when he was 34. Kawhi was incredible that year, but his main contribution before that was on the other side of the ball. Maybe Tatum never has a run like that. Maybe he has four of them. But very few guys led teams to titles in their early 20s. Kawhi and Kobe won titles young, but weren’t the best players on those teams.
