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Jayson Tatum "soft"? Celtics tough guys of the past

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 Jayson Tatum may not be Superman on the court, but he certainly is the Celtics "Iron Man". He rarely misses games and leads his team in five key statistical categories. Is he "soft"? I think not. Here are my -eight tough Celtics players from the past as compiled by my readers when I wrote for another blog.


Bill Russell. Few in the NBA at the time could handle Russ in the middle. He rebounded and defended like no other. He averaged 42.3 minutes per game in the regular season over the course of his career - and 45.4 MPG in the post-season. He backed down to no one - including Wilt Chamberlain.

Larry Bird: Larry could play either way - as a finesse guy or a hard-working warrior. He was tough - both mentally and physically. Never forget his head bouncing off the floor in that crucial playoff game versus the Pacers - and his triumphant return to the court to the surprise of everyone watching the game. 

Isaiah Thomas: I am not talking "toughness-per-inch" here. IT was tough by any standards. Just surviving in the NBA for so many seasons at his size had to be very hard, but his 53-point performance in the 2017 Eastern Semis against the Wizards (on his late sister's birthday) was astounding. Putting that grief aside for the good of his team revealed his inner strength.

Kevin Garnett/Dave Cowens: "The Big Ticket" played hard all of the time. Playoffs, regular season game, practice, warmups? Made no difference. "Big Red" shares this spot with Garnett because I always have a hard time picking one over the other. Many opponents were intimidated by Dave. He was a bulldog on the court, and the opposition never quite knew what he was capable of.

John Havlicek: No one today would literally play with only one good arm. But "Hondo" did just that in the 1973 playoffs versus the Knicks. Plus, John never-ever stopped moving on the court. He drove his defenders nuts.

I am also adding Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo to my list. Going way back, both Jim Loscutoff and Bob Brannum need to be mentioned, although Red Auerbach once commented that Brannum was tougher than "Loscy".

My thinking of folks saying Tatum is "soft" is that they are mistaking his smoothness on the court (and he has that - big time) for lack of toughness. It is a bad rap that needs to end.

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  1. AnonymousJanuary 23, 2025 at 5:36 PM

    You failed to mention Tom Heinsohn
    And for the record, i saw Russell back down from Wilt. (In person)
    Russell was intimidating but no match for Wilt, especially when Wilt was angry
    NOBODY challenged Wilt

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