Celtics

Jayson Tatum explains why he would have preferred to clinch the title in Dallas instead of Boston

The Celtics captured the title at home, but Jayson Tatum had a specific reason for wanting to get it done on the road.

By Khari Thompson

July 10, 2024

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Jayson Tatum said he is still on cloud nine after leading the Celtics to their first title since 2008 last month.

The Celtics completed their goal of winning it all, and Tatum said during a recent interview with “The Old Man and The Three” that he’s feeling some relief now they Boston has won.

“Winning a championship, it did feel like a breath of fresh air,” Tatum said. “Like the weight of expectations were lifted and you’ve accomplished something that only a few people have in history. It’s like you can be in a room with champions and they know what that moment is like.

“They know what the high that you’re on is like,” Tatum added. “They know what it took to get to that moment. Being in that space, in that room, with people that you looked up to and wanted to be like and now you can say I won a championship like they did.”

The Celtics closed out the Mavericks in five games to capture the title, and as good as it felt to win at home, Tatum said he wished the Celtics would have completed the sweep and claimed the title on the road in Dallas.

“I would have preferred to win on the road, honestly,” Tatum said. “Just because I know what it felt like for somebody to win a championship on my home court. I wanted that get back. I wanted to win in Dallas because I saw the Warriors win on our home court and that [expletive] was devastating.”

A’ja Wilson, a two-time WNBA champion with the Las Vegas Aces who will appear alongside Tatum on the cover of NBA 2K25’s All-Star edition, also spoke about how it felt to lose in the final round.

“I was so used to the confetti falling on me and I could celebrate and it was this big moment,” Wilson said. “But when that confetti falls on you and it’s not for you, it’s like it stings. I’m like oh my God, this is awful, I want to rip it up. But I think every athlete needs to go through that, I feel like everyone has to go through that in order to be great.”

Tatum, who had made multiple conference finals and lost to the Warriors in the 2022 NBA Finals, said he can sleep better now that he is finally a champion.

“For me the most satisfying thing about winning is that in the social media age that we live in and turn on the TV, there’s so many things that they can debate,” Tatum said. “Is he the best player? Is he top-5 or whatever? They can’t debate that I won a championship. That’s something that they never can take from me.”

“I sleep so much better at night because it would keep me up. I honestly don’t care what they say anymore because the thing that they said I couldn’t do, I did it and they can’t take that away.”