There is still a gap between Jayson Tatum and Stephen Curry
You know there's a certain art form to NBA games that resonates with us, and there are no greater artists in the NBA than the Golden State Warriors. All led by the best player of the series, Stephen Curry.
We saw this artwork after the momentum swung to Boston's side of the table as they came out leading 14-2. With the home crowd going crazy, the Warriors tapped into something. The energy of the game shifted, a switch was flipped, and the Warriors went on a 52-25 run.
They went 21-0 at one point, which is the longest run, keeping your opponent scoreless, in over 50 years of NBA Finals. So don't tell me to suck the energy out of an away game building and steal the growing confidence of the Celtics is not art.
This series killed in the ratings, and the reason is simple. We saw the most entertaining player of the millennium in the Finals. Giannis is powerful, LeBron is legendary, KD is slick, but no one holds a torch to this man by sheer exhilaration. Because as this series continued, we saw much more of what Stephen Curry does excellently: dragging defenses and running off the ball. We know he is so lethal he can cut at the heart of teams with a three-pointer, but we all know those shots are worth more than three points.
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This is about what Steph's presence on the floor creates for everybody. Because that is what separates Curry from Tatum at this point in their careers. Everyone was a witness; as we continued to watch Curry's greatness, the gap between him and Jayson Tatum grew bigger and bigger, and so did the series meaning Curry could maintain it for longer.
Tatum's lack of control over a game, especially the pace, the offense, and knowing when to take over and when to play-make, was highlighted immensely. And that's not even a knock on Tatum - this was his coming-out party.
He's still 24 years old. These things take time, and I'm sure he will bounce back even greater. But with Tatum at the focal point, when he would come out and not score, or even worse, not shoot, everything began to collapse around him—pushing him to the spotlight of criticism.
