One thing I learned this season, and I hope I never forget / Jayson Tatum for Hoops.co.il, July 2022

One thing I learned this season, and I hope I never forget / Jayson Tatum for Hoops.co.il, July 2022

Well, the season is over, I got some rest, things started to get clearer, and I thought I’ll share something with y’all.

I’m gonna be honest with y’all. Not gonna be shy about it or anything like that, I’ll just tell you things as they are.

Ever since I started this journey, this career as a basketball player, I always felt comfortable. Like, I knew I could play. I knew I could play well. And you know, this league is all about talent. If you want to play, and you want to lead in this league, you need to have talent. And I’m fine with that, cause people always told me I have got talent.

The second thing they tell you is that you need to work hard. Very hard. Like, very very hard. You need to develop your talent. “Hey, look at Kobe”, they tell you, “He had talent, for sure, tons of it, but he never stopped working. Never. And look where it got him”.

They are right. Damn right. And this is something I told myself from the start. And I Kinda looked at Kobe, and then at Lebron, KD, and those guys. Cause those guys, you know, they don’t let nobody work harder than them. I mean nobody. And that’s what makes them who they are.

So, you know, I felt like I had the talent, and I was willing to work as hard as I needed to.

And then I got to Boston.

Boston Celtics.

Jee whiz….

Now, I ain't gonna tell you what the Celtics are all about. You have already heard the stories just like I did, you know – Bill Russell, Havlicek stole the ball, Larry Bird, Paul Pierce, K.G – the list goes on.

First guy I spoke to was Danny Ainge. Tons of respect. I mean – Danny Ainge!

Listen, I knew the guy was like a top executive, you know, that’s how I got to Boston in the first place – Danny Ainge doing his thing. And I knew his was a baller. You don’t get to start for a Celtics Championship team If you ain’t. You don’t get to play against Magic if you ain’t.

I can honestly tell you, not just because he was my boss or anything, that I respcted Danny Ainge. I knew I can learn a lot from the guy. And I did.

But not always. Not always.

Sometimes he would tell me this, or tell me that, and I was like “I don’t know”. You know what I mean? Like, sometimes, I would feel bad about it. Like, he would tell me “Jayson, you need to this” or “JT, you could have done that”, and I would feel like “OK, but it wouldn’t necessarily work”, and like “he’s just saying that cause he’s a smaller guy. If he had my size, he would see it the way I see it”.

You know that feeling, right? Like people tell you all kinda of things and you’re like, I don’t know, a bit sour about it, cause maybe their right, maybe their wrong, and cause nobody likes to be told he needs to do this and not that. Just a bit sour.

But he was Danny Ainge, you know, so I kept on listening.

And then there was this other guy, Coach S.

Now Coach S. wasn’t a player in the league. And don’t quote me on that, really, please don’t tell anybody I told you so, I really don’t wanna get traded tomorrow or anything like that, but he ain’t the most athletic guy I met. Not so skilled either.

And he also started telling me things.

It was hard. Damn hard.

And with all these advices coming my way… I… well… I started feeling like I’m stupid or something.

I mean, do they really need to tell me all these things? I know stuff. And I ain’t stupid. Not at all. I can read plays. I can make calls. I see the game, and I know what I can do. I ain’t stupid. On and off the court – Basketball IQ, Emotional IQ, whatever IQ – I ain’t stupid.

So, I told myself, listen you ain’t stupid, but he’s the coach. You need to do whatever he’s saying, even if you don’t think he’s right, and even if you don’t like this feeling.

And it kinda worked, I guess, cause I did what I was told. But I still felt like something ain’t right. Sour. And a bit stuck.

Things started to change when at some point I paid more attention to how the coaching staff was communicating with Coach S. They said something, he said something, and it seemed that they were convinced. They didn’t get that feeling that I got, they just understood and went on. Actually, they looked happy that he shared his opinion. It helped them.

So, I started thinking about it. And then some more.

And I started thinking, and it’s still hard for me to acknowledge it, that the staff knew that coach S. was smart.

Like, yeah, sure, I also knew he was smart, the guy was writing articles for 538 since he was two years old or something, I know it just like everyone else.

But it was different.

It’s as if they could really get the smartness of what he said. They didn’t just trust him because he has like 200 IQ or something. It seems as if they didn’t need to trust him at all, they were just very impressed by what he said.

And mind you, it was what he said, not how he said it. You can barely hear his voice. He hardly has any impression when he speaks. Nothing. Just words.

What was it about those words that had everyone buy it? Everyone but me, that is? Why wasn’t I like everyone else here? How was I different?

Now this is really a difficult moment. It was then, and it still is now, when I try to explain it to y’all.

Well, few things I realized at that time.

The first one is that I didn’t get what coach S. was saying, at least not like others did. I understood what he was saying, but not always why he said that, and why it was the thing to do, and not some other thing I thought I need to do.

The second thing I realized was that if the coaching staff, and many of the players, just get the coach, and I don’t, then maybe, just maybe, it’s not them that are missing something, but it might be me that’s missing.

And I hate missing. I really hate it.

So, I looked into myself, closely, and the thought just popped-up. You know what I’m saying? You know this feeling that you have when you just “get it” suddenly?

And this thought was telling me that I might not be as smart as Coach S. is. And this thought was telling me that I miss things because I’m not as smart as Coach S.

And that hurt. Really hurt. Like really, really hurt.

Cause we all want to think that we are the smartest and we know best. Nobody wants to feel like someone else knows better. So, I guess you can say that my ego got a big hit.

And it wasn’t just the ego. It got me worried about myself and about my career. Cause If I ain’t smart enough, it limits me, in a way. If I ain’t smart enough than I might make mistakes. I might pass when I need to shoot, or shoot when I need to pass, and all those guys that lead in the league, you know, they got to where they got to because they did the right thing at the right moment. That’s how you win in this league.

And I wanted to win. Really wanted to win.

So, I swallowed it. Sour as it was. I swallowed it, and told myself

“OK, so Coach S. is smarter than I am, and that’s just how it is.”

And I kept on listening to what he’s saying, trying to get it, and kept on working hard and develop my skills.

And then, y'all know, Danny Ainge moved on, S. became the GM, and they brought in this new coach.

And the new coach, Coach Udoka, well, he wasn’t shy about anything. The guy just stud there in his first introduction as the new coach, and he said we all need to move the ball more.

Firstly, honestly, I took it personally. Like I thought he was criticizing me. And I thought that he wouldn’t be saying stuff like that to Kobe, or Lebron, or KD. He came from the Nets, and I didn’t remember those guys moving the ball too much. So I was like, “he’s telling me that I ain’t as good as KD. That’s what he’s telling me?!?”

And that hurts. Really hurts. Like really, really hurts.

Secondly, I thought that he was criticizing Coach S., cause S. was the one who had us play the way we played. And that had me confused, cause like I’m killing myself here for several years trying to get what Coach S. is telling me, and there comes this guy and tells me something else.

It was like I wanted to tell all of them “So the nerd, 200 IQ guy, was wrong the entire time??? NOW YOU TELL ME??? And If he was wrong, how do I know the new guy is right? In two years’ time there’s gonna be another coach and then you're gonna tell me that Coach U. was also wrong at the time? Come on, make up your mind, will you?”

I guess I wasn’t the only one who kinda felt that, cause the season started, well, y'all know how it started, right? So I guess we were all just trying to figure out what Coach U. is telling us, and we were all a bit confused – JB, Marcus and the younger guys.

And then they had Marcus switch to starting point guard.

I really didn’t get it. Like I love Marcus, he’s my brother for life, and I got nothing but respect for Marcus – he’s leading our defense, he’s a voice in the locker room, he changes things coming of the bench. That’s what he is. That’s what he does. Starting point guard? What gives?

And then they traded for Derrick White.

I got to know Derrick when we were playing for team USA a couple of years back. He’s good. He’s really good. And I love the guy, but it felt to me like another chip was thrown on the table, and needed to find its place. And it was a crowded table, I can tell you that. It felt like we were all a bit lost in this mix-up.

And then there was Al. Al Horford.

I ain’t gonna start talking about AI now, cause if I do, it can last forever. Al was there for me when I came to Boston as a rocky. We connected immediately. He knows so much about what it takes to win in this league, and I just kept looking at him to see how you need to do things. The ultimate pro.

And at some point, I noticed that Al sort of got what Coach U. was trying to do here – Coach U. used to say something, and while most of us guys kept silent, just looking at him, Al was nodding. I could see he was getting something. I could see that the Coach was happy with the way Al played. With the calls Al made. And then I saw that it was the same with D. White. He too got what Coach U. was trying to do.

And again, I was a bit behind these guys. It was the second time around, so I noticed the signs faster – I’m missing something that others don’t.

And remember – I hate missing.

So, after a big sigh, I had to realize it. Again

“OK, Coach U. is smarter than I am, and that’s just how it is.”

Now, I guess I should tell y'all that it was easier the second time around, but it wasn’t. It was hard. I guess it is always hard when you think that someone is better than you at something. Cause it is. It just is. And it was. It just was.

But remember – I hate missing. So, again, I swallowed it. Sour as it was. I swallowed it again.

And then things started to change for us.

I can’t put the finger on any specific moment, I can’t say if it was in practice or in a game, I don’t know if there ever was a specific moment or anything, but I do know that at some point we just started clicking.

Clicking was a good feeling.

Clicking meant winning.

I want to win. This is what we came to do here. As players in this league, and as Celtics. Celtics want to win. Celtics expect to Win. Celtics need to win.

So, it felt good you know.

But it was still hard for me.

So, I opened up to JB. I told him what I told y’all just now.

JB, well JB is special. He was there one year before me. He was there for me from the start. He is my partner. We are in this together, in this Celtics team, for several years now, and, from my point of view, for the rest of our careers. This is our team, right?

So that’s what I asked him when I finished sharing. Exactly that

But, JB, this our team, right?

Cause I guess I wasn’t really sure about it anymore. I mean, sure, we have a better team now, but is it still our team?

And JB, what can I tell you, he just told me how he sees things.

JB told me that it was good for us to have all these smart people around us, coaching staff and players, cause it makes our team better, just better.

And yes, they might not be as skilled as us, they might not do the things we can do, but they bring other things to the table, yes, that crowdy table, that we don’t.

“Think about it this way”, JB told me, “Do you think Payton Pritchard should feel bad because we two can drive and dunk, and he, little PP, not so much?”. “Of course not”, I said, “that would be crazy”. “Exactly”, said JB, “so it works both ways”.

The other thing JB told me, is that this smartness is not just a given. It’s like other aspects of this game, “We need to develop it”, JB said, “and having these guys around us, is a great opportunity for us to learn from them and develop ourselves. Not only for the team, but also for us.”

The first thing I thought was that JB was right. For sure. It was actually pretty simple really.

The second thing I thought… Well, damn it, I’ll just say it and get it over with – is how come I didn’t think of that this way? How did I miss it?

And then I realized that…

JB. is also smarter than I am, and that’s just how it is.

3rd time around.

Yes, it was still hard. Yes, this sting, this pain, was still there, and it still hurt.

And again, I had to come to terms with that and move on, cause, yes, I wanna feel good about myself, but I hate missing, and I want to win.

This season was long, so there were also a 4th and 5th time around, but I think by now you’ve got what I’m saying, right?

As for the rest of the story… y'all know by now – we went further and higher than anyone expected.

I couldn’t be more proud of what we have accomplished this season, but I needed to tell y’all about the journey we had to go through in order to get there. The journey I had to go through in order to get there.

People see the bright side of things, the external side of things – the great moves, the clutch shots – but people can’t see the inside stuff – the things we go through, the difficulties, how we change.

So yep, I know people gonna remind me of that buzzer beater against the Nets for the rest of my life, nothing wrong with that, but I wanted you to see the other side too.

And yep, I’m gonna remember that buzzer beater against the Nets, and all the rest that followed it, for the rest of my life, for sure, but I also need to remind myself of this one thing I learned, and I hope I never forget.

Jayson Tatum, July 2022

מקורות: דמיוני הקודח

מאנו דה מאן (לשעבר מיקי)

נדיר שמישהו יהפוך לדוגמא עבור הקולגות שלו. עוד יותר נדיר שמישהו יהפוך לדוגמא עבור אנשים בכלל, ובשבילי, זה מאנו. כשאני רואה את מאנו משחק כדורסל, אני רואה לא רק איך שחקנים צריכים לשחק כדורסל אלא גם איך אנשים צריכים להיות. תודה רבה מאנו על הדוגמא וההשראה.

לפוסט הזה יש 27 תגובות

  1. נפלא. תודה רבה. הייתי בטוח שתשים בסוף את הראיון עם jb אחרי המשחק האחרון. דיבר יפה כמו תמיד וברוח הפוסט שלך. טייטום שפחות כופה עצמו על המשחק זה חדשות נהדרות לבוסטון. כמו כן אני לא מבין את התלונות על סמארט בפוינט. סמארט קבוצתי וזה בדיוק הרכז שהם צריכים עם שני כשרונות נהדרים כמו בראון וטייטום. כנ"ל לגבי וייט.

  2. תודה מיקי א-מנו.
    אין ספק שיש אנשים חכמים מטייטום אבל מעטים האנשים שיש להם את האינטליגנציה הספורטיבית שלו ואת הכישרון שלו.
    מה שחשוב שמאחוריו עומדת אישה חכמה מאד, אמא שלו, שמנווטת הייטב את הקריירה שלו ועוזרת לו בחושבים.
    בחוזים הבאים הוא ובראון יקפצו למספרים של לברון KD ושות לא בגלל החכמה אלא בגלל זו הספורטיבית. הם צריכים להמשיך להקשיב למאמנים שלהם ולעשות מה שהם אומרים. הניצחון של הסלטיקס הגיע גם ברבע בו טייטום כנראה עשה את הכי הרבה עבודה קבוצתית. ביום לא טוב הוא נתן רבע של מסירות פגז. מצד שני, ההטעיה שעשה לג'ימי ברבע האחרון כשהיו פחות מ 3 שניות לבאזר של אותה התקפה אולי גמרה את המשחק הזה והביאה ניצחון לבוסטון וזה בלי לשכוח את החמצת השלשה של גימי.

  3. נו הלכת קצת חזק מידי ועשית ממנו די מטומטם.
    חשבתי שטייטום היה טוב משחק אחרון ואף כי לא פגע בכלום, מסר את הכדור והיה מדהים בהגנה.

    1. לא התכוונתי להוציא אותו מטומטם, אני לא חושב שהוא מטומטם, אבל היו לא מעט משחקים, ורגעים, שהוא היה נראה לי קצת אבוד וקצת לא מבין מה רוצים ממנו, ולפי הראיונות שלו בסופי משחקים הוא היה נראה לי קצת רגיש לביקורת, ואפילו לעצם זה שמדברים עליו.

      1. אני גם חושב שעשית ממנו קצת טמבל וריגשי, והוא ממש לא. אבל בלי שום קשר, הטס- אוף על הפוסטר הסופר כייפי הזה, יו נואו.

            1. nooooooo!!!

          1. תיקנתי אחר מהBEATERים ופספסתי את השני.
            רואה מיקי – ברגע שאתה אומר "מישהו תיקן טעויות" כולם מגיעים עם "מצאתי עוד! מצאתי עוד!". אבל זה דווקא לטובה – מראה שכולם קוראים את מה שכתבת בעיון הראוי.
            🙂

  4. אוהו, איזו השקעה, סחתיין.
    הטורים לאחרונה עולים מדרגה..
    אהבתי את buzzer bitter – איך לא חשבו על זה בהקשר של דוראנט וקיירי במשחק 1 בסיבוב הראשון?

  5. אחלה תרגום כל הכבוד על המאמץ,
    לטייטום אין את הקילר אינסטינקט או הדומיננטיות של אחד כמו לברון אבל כמו שהוא אומר במאמר
    יש לו עוד זמן ללמוד ולקבל ניסיון.

    הבאזר ביטר נגד הנטס הוא רגע נחמד אבל אף אחד לא יזכור לו את זה אם זה לא מסתיים בטבעת אליפות.

  6. טור רגיש וכתוב לעילא, תודה רבה מאנו. אם אי פעם טאטום יצטרך סופר צללים הוא מצא היום מועמד מצויין לתפקיד

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