The Celtics boast the best record in the NBA by a fair margin as the All-Star break approaches this week, but that hasn’t stopped some from criticizing a group that has failed to get over the hump and win a championship despite knocking on the door the last several years.
Two weeks ago, NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley said on TNT that he thinks the Celtics aren’t tough enough to win a championship. And while the Celtics don’t necessarily listen to what’s being said about them outside the locker room, those comments were relayed to Jayson Tatum, who responded on Tuesday while he was making an appearance on CBS Mornings.
“You have to give the respect,” Tatum said. “Those are the guys that paved the way for the younger players like myself. You don’t always have to agree, but you have to, in a sense, respect the work that they put in. And I understand that in the times that we’re in, nobody can win a championship until you do it, so nobody’s going to give us the credit until we actually do it, and that’s fine. We don’t necessarily pay attention to the outside noise. There’s a group of us in that locker room that go to war with each other every day, and we’re up for the challenge.”
The Celtics suffered one of their worst losses of the season on Feb. 1 at home to the Lakers, who didn’t have LeBron James or Anthony Davis. Afterward, Barkley didn’t hold back about his concern for the championship favorites, who were also beaten on their home floor recently by the Nuggets and Clippers, who are championship contenders out west.
“It tells me they’re just playing on talent. They’re not mentally tough enough,” Barkley said before adding, “The Celtics, to me, they got a really good record, but they’re not going to win the championship. … There’s no team in the NBA that’s better than the Celtics. But you have to be mentally tough. You can’t turn it on and off because you develop too many bad habits. They’re developing bad habits.”
Tatum, before Tuesday’s game at Brooklyn, took time to stop into the CBS studio in New York to announce his new partnership with SoFi for the launch of the SoFi Generational Wealth Fund, into which SoFi is donating $1 million to promote financial literacy and create family-sustaining wealth for years to come.
According to a press release, “The SoFi Generational Wealth Fund will deploy $1 million through grants and direct aid to positively impact individuals far beyond the basketball court. In partnership with the Jayson Tatum Foundation, The Fund furthers Tatum’s S.M.A.R.T. Project, which assists single parents as they navigate parenthood, education and financial wellness. The Fund aims to reach the community with helpful financial resources to support financial literacy and to expand opportunities for homeownership as a path to sustainable wealth for future generations.” It’s a cause that means a lot to Tatum, who grew up being raised by his mother in a single-parent household in St. Louis and faced financial struggles.
“My mom was 19 when she had me, living check to check,” Tatum said. “So, financial literacy or learning about a savings account, we never had those conversations because there was no saving. We were just trying to make ends meet week to week. So understanding that she sacrificed everything that she had to put me in a position to achieve my dream and create generational wealth for myself, for her and for my son later down the road, and now just wanting to extend that branch to the community and change lives where I grew up.”
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