Kendrick Perkins says Jayson Tatum’s injury doesn’t kill Boston’s NBA Finals hopes
The The Boston Celtics are on the move coming out of the All-Star break, taking another one incredible win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday as they continue their journey to the West Coast. The win comes as the team awaits further updates Jayson Tatuman injured star who many doubt could return as early as this season.
However, one person who thinks the Celtics can reach their goals this season regardless of whether Tatum is in the lineup is the former Boston big man Kendrick Perkins of ESPN, who recently participated in First Take to convey your thoughts.
“They can go to the NBA Finals without (Jayson) Tatum. … They’re the most dangerous team in the NBA because they have zero expectations,” Perkins said, via First Take on X, formerly Twitter.
Perkins also opined that Boston has “the best two-way player in the game in Jaylen Brown, because no other player in the league does what he does in terms of being top five in scoring and top five defensively in opponent field goal percentage.”
Indeed, Brown has done it on both ends of the floor this year, though fans of Kawhi Leonard, Victor Wembanyama and a few other players would likely disagree with Perkins’ assessment.
Still, at this point the Celtics are starting to look like a real threat even without Tatum in the lineup. There’s one school of thought that rushing Tatum back this season could work against Boston’s plans for the 2025-26 season, given the way the team’s rhythm would be disrupted, at least temporarily, and the fact that the star would have a lot of rust to shake off. Tatum also hasn’t really stood out as a good player in the postseason in his career so far, which continued last year against the New York Knicks.
Either way, the Celtics’ road trip will continue on Tuesday against the Phoenix Suns.
2026-02-23 17:28:00
