Before the Boston Celtics started the season, Jayson Tatum took it upon himself to call a meeting. This meeting included the Celtics “six starters” of Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, Al Horford, Kristaps Porzingis and Derrick White. No coaches or other teammates were present, only the six veterans gathered for a talk about the upcoming season.
“I wanted us to get in the room and talk about it,” Tatum told ESPN. “We all are human and have feelings, and I opened the floor and basically said, ‘There’s six of us. Only five can play at one time. One of us is not going to finish the game all the time.
“Whether it’s fair or not, me and JB are probably going to always start, and always finish the game. But we have to be held to a different standard and be able to be coached differently. Whether it’s KP and Al, one of you guys may not finish a game, and you have to be OK with that.”
Tatum’s goal was to head off any problems down the line, when losing games could spark dissension.
“This was a time where, if you’re not OK with it, let’s talk about it,” Tatum said. “I didn’t want everybody to, before the season started, say, ‘Yeah, I’m, I’m fine with it. Whatever.’ And then, you know, we’ll lose a couple games, and then things build up.
“It offered a time for us to all be on the same page and express that we were OK. … It was a great meeting.”