[autotag]Jayson Tatum[/autotag] did something only five other players in NBA history ever matched during the 2024 postseason, and each of them are among the greatest to ever play the game.
With the Boston Celtics defeating the Dallas Mavericks 106-88 on Monday night, their fourth victory in five games, Tatum finally got to hold the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
The former Duke basketball star ended his 19-game run to the title game as Boston’s team leader in points, rebounds, and assists for the postseason. The five other players to match that feat? LeBron James, Larry Bird, Hakeem Olajuwon, Tim Duncan, and Nikola Jokic.
Tatum scored 31 points in the decisive victory, his second 30-point performance of the series, and added 11 assists and eight rebounds. He put together three double-doubles in the five-game series. He averaged 25.0 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 6.3 assists for the playoffs, and he scored at least 30 points in six different games and managed a double-double in 14 different contests.
Jayson Tatum becomes the 6th player in NBA history to win the championship while leading their team in PTS • REB • AST in the playoffs. pic.twitter.com/9YGtPemINr
— StatMamba (@StatMamba) June 18, 2024
James, in his typical outlier fashion, managed this feat three times in five years. Bird, another Celtics star, is the only other player to do it twice.