NBA fans and Duke fans have probably already started taking Jayson Tatum for granted.
The leader of the Boston Celtics helped the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference win 64 games this season and breeze through three rounds of the playoffs in just 14 games. After making the conference finals in five of the last seven seasons, Boston now returns to the NBA Finals for the second time in three years. The year they didn’t, they lost the conference finals in seven games.
By the time the 26-year-old’s career is over, the question of Duke’s best NBA player likely won’t be thought-provoking. He’s on pace for the Hall of Fame, and knocking on every piece of wood available for injury luck, he’s got at least another half-decade as one of the best players in the league.
What if there isn’t a need to wait, however? He’s a look at Tatum’s case against some other notable Duke basketball players to see if, in just seven seasons, he already summited the mountain.
The highest honor an NBA player can reach is making the All-NBA First Team. Only five players each year get to make the elite squad, the players who tell the story of each respective season. Before 2022, no Duke player ever earned the esteemed honor multiple times.
Tatum just made the team for the third straight year.
He’s also made an All-NBA team of any kind four times. That’s only one behind Grant Hill for the most in Duke basketball history. Tatum’s only played seven seasons, meaning he’s working his way into the consensus top 15 players more than 50% of the time.
Tatum and the Celtics also reached the Eastern Conference finals in five of his seven seasons. Yes, there aren’t any rings to show for it (yet?), but the only other former Blue Devil who reached the league semifinals with that level of consistency was Kyrie Irving with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and he did so alongside LeBron James. Tatum doesn’t have a first-ballot Hall of Famer alongside him in Boston.
He and Irving teamed up to reach the round once in 2017-18 when Tatum was a rookie, but Tatum made it back in four of the five seasons since Irving left the Celtics. Irving made it back for the first time with Dallas this season.
Tatum has played seven NBA seasons, and he’s only 26 years old. Even still, he’s 10th in school history in NBA points with 11,852. He’s also 13th among former Blue Devils in career rebounds and 16th in career assists.
He reached these heights in just 513 regular-season games. 21 Duke basketball alums have seen the court more often. Despite being fifth among active Blue Devils in games played, he’s already amassed the second-most points and rebounds of that group.
Tatum is the only player in school history to average at least 23.0 points and 7.0 rebounds across his career, and considering that he’s averaged at least 26.0 points in each of his last four seasons and at least 8.0 rebounds in each of his last three, it’s hard to see those numbers dipping.
According to StatMuse, here are Tatum’s career ranks in NBA playoff statistics among players before their 27th birthday:
Points: 2nd (2,600 – 94 points behind Kobe Bryant)
Rebounds: 2nd (857 – 11 rebounds behind Magic Johnson)
Assists: 7th (513 – behind only Johnson, Rajon Rondo, LeBron James, Tony Parker, Maurice Cheeks, and Bryant)
Wins: 4th (64 – behind only Bryant, Parker, and Johnson)
Only two Duke basketball players have ever won multiple titles. Shane Battier won back-to-back rings with the Miami Heat in 2012-13 and Quinn Cook cut down the nets with Cleveland in 2018 and Los Angeles in 2020.
All four of those championships have something in common: LeBron James. Between those four championship teams, Battier and Cook only started in one of those NBA Finals. Battier started all five games against the Thunder in 2012, averaging 11.6 points per game, and he made six of eight shots off the bench in the deciding Game 7 against San Antonio the next season, but he didn’t start a game against the Spurs.
No player in Duke history can claim to be the focal point of multiple championship teams, so a single ring from Tatum would be enough for him not to trail anyone. Even without a championship, his playoff resume can only be equaled by Irving in school history since few other Blue Devils ever operated as the focus of their team in the same way Tatum has.
Before 2010, the most common answer to the question ‘Who is the best NBA player from Duke?’ would have been Grant Hill. After all, injuries derailed a promising career that started with a Rookie of the Year award and five All-NBA teams in six seasons. He’s still the Blue Devils’ only Hall of Famer, and there’s a valid case that Tatum needs another year or two as a top-10 player to match Hill’s pace (Hill’s All-NBA resume includes one First Team and four Second Teams).
Based on the assumed result of the Western Conference finals, however, Tatum’s biggest foe might be Irving. The skilled point guard already won an NBA title, and considering that he averaged 27.1 points per game and helped the Cavaliers surge back from a 3-1 deficit, it’s easy to argue that he earned that ring more than any Blue Devil ever has. He’s also already Duke’s all-time leading scorer and seems to have multiple seasons left in the tank, although past injury issues make that less certain.
The Mavericks lead Minnesota 3-1 in the conference finals right now, and another win would set up an all-Blue Devil finale. A head-to-head victory could swing the needle, but Irving is again playing second fiddle, this time to Luka Doncic. Barring a dominant series, it’s fair to say the case wouldn’t be open and shut regardless of the outcome.
Yes, Jayson Tatum is the best Duke basketball player in NBA history.
You can make the argument, either in favor of Hill or Irving, that this is premature, but I think it’s more so understanding the inevitable. We’re going on four straight years of 26.0-point, 8.0-rebound basketball and conference finals appearances, and Tatum has played at least 60 games in all seven seasons.
Hill’s first seven seasons still probably stand alone as the best from any former Blue Devil, and injury luck likely robbed him and Irving of the chance to put more distance between themselves and Tatum. However, the pace with which he’s gaining on them can’t be ignored, especially when he’s racking up All-NBA First Team honors. Maybe there’s too much projection in this sentiment, too much faith in the unknown, but few players in the NBA seem more poised than Tatum to be a top-10 player for the next five years.
There’s no medal to be earned or courage to be found in making this statement after his third First Team nomination or his second conference title. It’s better than waiting for his fifth award or his first championship and realizing the truth was right there all along, though, so might as well plant the flag before it gets even more obvious.
Best Duke Blue Devils in NBA history:
- Jayson Tatum
- Grant Hill
- Kyrie Irving