Jayson Tatum has accomplished plenty since the Boston Celtics drafted him back in 2017. He’s made multiple All-Star teams, multiple All-NBA first teams, and helped the Celtics win the title in 2024.
Yet, Tatum feels like he’s not getting the respect he deserves despite establishing himself as one of the best players in the NBA.
Jayson Tatum Explained Why He Feels Disrespected
In a candid interview with the Washington Post, Tatum expressed his sentiments, stating, “Honestly, no. If you took the name and the face away from all my accomplishments and you’re just like, ‘This is what Player A accomplished at 26,’ people would talk about [me] a lot differently.”
He went on to say, “Did he win a championship? Yes. Did he win gold medals? Yes. Was he always a part of winning seasons? Was he first-team All-NBA? Those are things that you know are hard evidence. The face of the NBA? They can always debate. But it’s like, I check off all the boxes.”
Ric Bucher Agrees With Tatum But Believes the NBA Doesn’t Have a Face
On “The Facility,” analyst Ric Bucher agreed with Tatum on the matter
“He should be in the conversation. He should feel disrespected or overlooked that he’s not,” Bucher said. “My issue is that we don’t have (a face of the NBA) right now who is an American player.”
When asked who he thinks is the face of the NBA, Bucher reaffirmed his stance.
“I don’t think there is one. I think that’s one of the problems that it has. I think that the other part is, now, the top candidates… are foreign players. Are we gonna have a Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or a Victor Wembanyama? Those guys are the candidates.”
.@RicBucher say Jayson Tatum should feel disrespected not being in conversation for future face of the NBA: pic.twitter.com/Rktw4V8oQx
— The Facility (@TheFacilityFS1) February 27, 2025
The truth is, many of the NBA’s best players aren’t American, like the players Bucher mentions above, along with Nikola Jokić, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Dončić, and Joel Embiid.
Tatum has been one of the NBA’s best and most successful players for the past few years, but some of these players get more attention than he does.
Collin Cowherd Explains Why Tatum is Not the Face of the NBA
Analyst Colin Cowherd explained on “The Herd with Colin Cowherd” why Tatum isn’t the face of the NBA. In short, he says the NBA has only had three faces in its history: Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, and LeBron James.
He referenced Tatum’s time in Boston, saying that Tatum “wasn’t the face of the Celtics in the finals. Jaylen Brown was. Marcus Smart two years earlier was taking the ball from him.”
Cowherd went on to say, “There’s a cool and a charisma. Tatum’s excellent. He’s not in the same zip code as cool.”
He also added that there are three factors that go into one becoming the face of the NBA.
“First of all… You have to have an otherworldly talent… You also have to want it. Michael, Magic, and LeBron are outstanding business guys. They read the business page before they read the sports page. Number three, it really helps if we’re introduced to you early.”
"He's not cool."
.@ColinCowherd weighs in on Jayson Tatum's trajectory to be the face of the NBA: pic.twitter.com/yPNeakEeS7
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) February 27, 2025
Tatum’s college career at Duke was delayed due to an injury, but he helped the Blue Devils win the 2017 ACC tournament. He burst onto the scene in the NBA when he guided the Celtics to within one win of the NBA Finals in 2018. He really grabbed people’s attention when he dunked over James in the Eastern Conference Finals.
In a way, Cowherd’s words are somewhat similar to Bucher’s, but that’s because he believes it’s rare for players to become the face of the NBA. Tatum is actually one of the NBA’s more popular players because of his sustained success.
One could argue that he’s not the face of the NBA simply because, as Cowherd alludes to, not many players became the face of the NBA.