NBA forward Jayson Tatum is the youngest player in Boston Celtics history to score 10,000 points.
According to NBA.com, while helping the Celtics remain undefeated this season, Tatum put up 32 points
while pulling down 11 rebounds – and broke a record in the process. On Saturday, Nov. 4, while playing the Brooklyn Nets, Tatum placed himself in the record books in the second quarter.He spoke of the achievement after the Celtics beat the Nets at the Barclays Center in New York City.
“That’s special. That’s cool. I’ve just been blessed to be in a great franchise. I’ve had some great teammates, some great coaches, that have contributed to helping me get 10,000 career points.”
Tatum beat the former youngest player to reach that mark, Antoine Walker, who hit the milestone when he was 26 years and 131 days old. Saturday, Tatum was 25 years and 246 days old.
He currently has 10,016 points.
The scoring output also made Tatum the 10th-youngest player in NBA
history to reach the mark. The people who reached the mark before him were LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, Tracy McGrady, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Devin Booker, Dwight Howard, and Bob McAdoo.“He shows up to work every single day, he puts the work in, he dedicates his life
to it, he doesn’t miss days, he doesn’t miss practices, games,” Mazzulla said. “And just his open-mindedness of wanting to be coached and wanting to be held to a high standard … He’s one of the guys that sets the tone for us because he’s willing to be pushed to the ultimate level, and it allows us to do that for everybody.”Last season, Tatum did something no other Celtics player has done, not even the great Larry Bird. He became the first Celtics player to ever average 30 points per game for a full season. After five games, he is averaging 30.2 PPG.