Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown Have Earned Their Spots Among Boston Celtics Legends

At the beginning of the month, Jaylen Brown scored his 13,000th career point. In the middle of the month, Brown passed Jo Jo White and Dave Cowens to climb to 10th place on the Celtics all-time scoring list. He’s right behind Jayson Tatum, who ends the month with 14,000 career points … well, 14,014 to be exact assuming he doesn’t play against the Atlanta Hawks.

Looking at that top-10 scoring list, one thing stands out: There are a whole lot of teammates on there.

Bill Russell, Sam Jones, Bob Cousy, and John Havlicek all played together. Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish were “The Big 3” of the vaunted 1980’s Celtics. And Jayson Tatum is right there with Jaylen Brown. Only Paul Pierce stands alone as a generational scorer without an elite running mate for most of it. That's actually pretty fitting for what he went through.

Everyone else on that list is part of a tradition of greatness. The Celtics have a long history of not just great players rolling through town, but great teams and teammates. Even the two guys Brown passed, White and Cowens, were teammates on the great but underrated 70’s teams coached to a pair of championships by Tommy Heinsohn.

All of those teams of the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s are revered by Celtics fans. Everyone looks back and sees them as some sort of example for the current generation.

So why aren’t we looking at this team, with these teammates, in the same way?

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are Havlicek and Jones. They are Cowens and White. They are Bird and McHale. No, they're not the same exact players, and the game they play looks a little different than it used to. But when you walk into TD Garden, or any arena they play in, actually, you’ll see toddlers, teenagers, and young adults with 0 and 7 jerseys on, growing up with the two greatest Celtics of their young lives. They are the newest generation of diehards, and Tatum and Brown are their legends.

They have earned that status, and we need to realize what we’re watching.

Jaylen Brown’s road to 13,000 points hasn’t always been easy. His growth from a “throw caution to the wind” straight-line driver who jumped and then tried to figure things out has been incredible. The way he’s learned the game, figured out how to manipulate defenses, and play under control is a testament to the dedication to his work.

Jayson Tatum’s path to 14,000 may have seemed preordained but he has remade his game from a pure scorer to an initiator who creates for his teammates. And to reach this milestone this season, when people weren’t even sure if he’d even play, much less come back and look like his usual self so quickly, is inspiring.

Their paths together haven't always been great, but even as they’ve worked through things, they have been fixtures in Conference Finals, they’ve been to the Finals twice, and they have raised a banner together. And they're still in their primes.

They play for an elite coach and an elite front office. And this season … whew. I don’t know how anyone is anything but inspired by what we’ve seen from these guys.

I’m supposed to be the skeptic in the room. I’m supposed to be the guy that pokes at things to see if they're real. I’m supposed to be asking the questions that dig under the surface to expose the cracks that can bring this thing down.

I’ve done all that. We all have. The foundation is as solid as it gets. This thing is unassailable.

And it’s led by Brown and Tatum. They aren’t just great basketball players. They are among the greatest this franchise has ever had. And on top of it all, they are young men the City of Boston can be proud of. It’s often said that athletes shouldn’t be role models, but Brown and Tatum absolutely should. Between their work in the community and their love for their families, they are shining examples of hard work on and off the floor.

Who knows how this season will end. Winning a championship is hard because other great teams have something to say about it. They're good enough to win another one, maybe more, but only time will tell if they're good, and lucky, enough to add to that championship resume.

But make no mistake about who these guys are, what we are watching, and the status they have earned. They are already, right now, Celtics legends. It could all end tomorrow, and that label will still stick. And lucky for us, we’re not done getting to watch them add to their legacy.