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The five-time NBA All-Star led the Celtics to a league-best 64 wins last season, averaging 26.9 points himself.<\/p>\n
Despite standout performances throughout his career in Boston, prior to this season, they had been without a championship since 2008.<\/p>\n
Tatum came close to lifting the trophy in 2022 but lost in the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors.<\/p>\n
The Celtics then went on to lose in the 2023 eastern conference finals to the Miami heat.<\/p>\n
These losses led to a lot of scrutiny around Tatum’s ability to deliver a championship, not only on social platforms but also in the media., external<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n Reflecting on this scrutiny, Tatum told BBC Sport: “It was a process and you just have to go through it to learn how to deal with it. The older you get, the more time you spend in the league – the less you start to care.<\/p>\n “You have to have an outlet, right? Whatever that may look like, you need something to get away from it all,<\/p>\n “Don’t get me wrong, basketball is extremely important, but it is not everything, and you can’t let that be the sole purpose of your happiness – it will drive you crazy.<\/p>\n “Whatever you do, it will never be good enough, so you can’t keep trying to get justification from other people.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n