Jayson Tatum says title win frees him from 'controversy'

LAS VEGAS — Fresh from winning an NBA title last weekend and signing a record-breaking contract extension, Jayson Tatum arrived in Las Vegas on Monday for the first practice of Team USA training camp with a new haircut and feeling like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

“I'm 100 percent,” Tatum said shortly after being excused from the first two days of preparation for the Paris Olympics and taking part in his first practice here. “Just being in that topic that's been debated a lot … 'Can he carry a team? Is he a top-five player?'

“I think there's still a lot of room for debate, but now I've accomplished something they can't debate: I won a championship. Now that I've accomplished that, of course there's still room for debate and no matter what people say, they're always going to have to call me an NBA champion.”

Tatum and the Celtics led the NBA with 64 wins in the regular season and then finished with the second-best playoff record since the league played four best-of-seven rounds in the playoffs, behind only the Golden State Warriors' 16-1 record in 2017, so there's no disputing that.

Tatum called last month's victory parade “the best two hours of my life” and said he couldn't describe how “insane” the atmosphere and energy was across the city that day as Boston celebrated passing arch rivals the Los Angeles Lakers for the most championships in NBA history with 18.

But if anyone thought the Celtics, and especially head coach Joe Mazzulla, would rest easy after their first championship, Tatum made it clear that's not the case.

“Joe's already planning for next season,” Tatum said with a smile. “I said, 'Joe, who cares? We just won a championship. Have fun, relax.'”

“For example, I'm not worried about what he's going to be working on on set right now. He's very driven, so we laughed about it. We all do, but we've worked so hard for this, so we have to have fun.”

Tatum also enjoys a remarkable level of roster continuity in Boston heading into next season, as the team has already re-signed centers Luke Kornet, Neemias Queta and Xavier Tillman in free agency and signed both Tatum and All-Defensive Team guard Derrick White to long-term extensions.

As of now, Boston still has 13 of the 15 players that won last year's NBA championship, adding first-round draft pick Baylor Shireman in place of Oshae Brissett and Svi Mikaluk. No one is happier than Tatum, who cited how much last year's teamwork helped Boston and said he expects everyone from last year's team to return.

“We had a great team,” Tatum said, “Obviously the guys that actually played, but our 'on call' group of guys were very talented every time we called on them. We were a very close-knit team and I thought everybody played really well.”

“I didn't really want to make any changes. I thought we had a really good team in every way.”

But there's one place change is likely to come in Boston: the ownership group. Controlling owner Wyck Grousbeck announced a week ago that he and his family were selling their controlling interest in the franchise. It came as a surprise to just about everyone; even Tatum himself admitted he didn't see it coming.

“I was very surprised,” Tatum said. “I hadn't heard anything before that and we had just won a championship. I thought everything was fine. But people have to make decisions, especially themselves and their families. As a man, you have to respect that decision.”

He also said the ownership group has done a good job assuring everyone within the franchise that nothing will change going forward.

The only other thing that hasn't changed is Tatum's status as the face of Boston's franchise after agreeing to a record-breaking five-year, $314 million contract extension.

He said his goal now is to follow up his first win with as many wins as he can in Boston.

“I'm very grateful,” Tatum said of the extension. “It's not about the money. I've been fortunate to make a lot more than I ever thought I would and be able to provide for my family. So for me, it was nice to feel like they wanted me for a long time, my whole career.”

“I have nothing but love for this city, the fans and everyone on this team. We just won a championship and we want to win as many as we can.”