Jayson Tatum off to MVP-caliber start entering Steve Kerr showdown

Only Jayson Tatum truly knows how much his limited role on Team USA affected him.

But if the Celtics star entered this season with a goal of proving Steve Kerr wrong for making him a bit player at the 2024 Summer Olympics, he’s off to an ideal start.

Eight games in, and with a marquee matchup against Kerr’s Golden State Warriors set for Wednesday night at TD Garden, Tatum is the team leader in points (30.0 per game), rebounds (7.4), assists (5.1) and steals (1.9) for a Boston squad that sits at 7-1, with the lone loss coming in overtime.

He’s set the tone for the reigning NBA champions with a string of dominant first quarters and dropped 26 in the first half in Monday night’s 123-93 demolition of the Atlanta Hawks.

League-wide, Tatum is fourth in points per game behind Anthony Davis, Giannis Antetokonmpo and Tyrese Maxey despite sitting out the entire fourth quarter in three of his contests. He’s fifth in efficiency behind Nikola Jokic, Davis, Antetokounmpo and Domantas Sabonis and first in win shares, a stat that’s long been closely linked to MVP candidacy.

Over the last 45 seasons, 26 NBA MVPs (57.8%) led the league in win shares, 37 ranked in the top three (82.2%) and 42 ranked in the top five (93.3%). Tatum’s highest career finish is sixth in 2022-23.

Eight games is a microscopic sample size – less than 10% of the NBA season. But it’s not an overreaction to say Tatum has played like a legitimate MVP candidate thus far, if not the outright early-season favorite.

“Being a top-five player in the league like he is, he makes it look pretty easy, and I think we just kind of follow suit,” Celtics guard Jrue Holiday told reporters in Atlanta after Monday’s win. “He makes the game so much easier for everyone else because of his scoring ability and playmaking ability.”

Though Tatum has maintained since the summer that he’s not satisfied with just winning one championship and wants to hang more banners in the Garden rafters, he’s also gunning for the NBA’s top individual honor. It’s one of the few accolades he’s yet to earn in a career that’s featured five All-Star selections, three first-team All-NBA nods, an All-Star MVP trophy – important enough to Tatum that he got it tattooed on his back – and last season’s long-awaited Celtics title.

“As a kid, you set a lot of goals for yourself,” Tatum told reporters earlier this season. “I’ve been very fortunate enough to check off a lot of boxes of things that I wanted to accomplish, things that my favorite players accomplished. Saying that MVP is important to me is not in a way taking away from the success of our team. Every guy that’s ever won MVP has been on a championship-contending team.

“If you’re an MVP, you’re dominating, you’re efficient, you’re playing the right way and you’re impacting winning. You can do both. Championship is the most important, but being the best version of yourself along the way is important, as well.”

Taking another step toward that goal against Kerr’s Warriors would be fitting.

To recap: In a controversy that dominated offseason NBA headlines, the Golden State and Team USA coach gave Tatum the second-fewest minutes of any U.S. player at the Olympics. He full-on benched him for two of the team’s six games in Paris, including the semifinal against Serbia, during which the U.S. trailed by as many as 17 points before rallying to win. Kerr chalked Tatum’s limited role up to matchups and roster math, and LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant led the Americans to their fifth straight gold medal.

Tatum’s usage, though widely criticized by everyone from Charles Barkley to Bob Cousy, furthered the argument that he still sits a rung or two below the NBA’s true elites. Continuing to perform the way he has post-Olympics would settle that debate.

For that reason, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla believed Kerr did Tatum a favor by exiling him to the fringe of Team USA’s roster. Tatum made headlines at Boston’s preseason media day by saying his embarrassing Olympic role made Mazzulla “the happiest person in the world,” which the coach confirmed.

“Sometimes when you get success, you don’t have that next hunger right in front of you,” Mazzulla said before the season. “Sometimes you’ve got to wait for it. Sometimes it’s a loss, sometimes it’s a losing streak. (Tatum) was able to get that right in front of him (at the Olympics). So I just thought it was a gift.

“It doesn’t mean that he shouldn’t be pissed off about it. I didn’t want to take away from how that may affect him in real time because I wasn’t there. But as his coach and as somebody that really cares about him, I just thought it was great because it gives him something to work toward for the rest of his career.”

The intrigue of Wednesday night’s game extends beyond the Tatum-Kerr clash. It’s also a rematch of the 2022 NBA Finals, and the Warriors, after missing the playoffs last season, are off to a 6-1 start, tied for second in the Western Conference behind Oklahoma City.

Curry is expected to be available for Golden State after returning from an ankle injury on Monday.

“It should be fun,” Tatum told reporters.

Off the rim

Jaylen Brown, who was left off the Olympic team entirely, won’t have a chance to show Kerr what he was missing. The NBA Finals MVP will miss his third consecutive game as he deals with a hip flexor strain. Mazzulla described Brown’s status as “day to day.” Since the start of last season, Boston is a perfect 14-0 in games in games Brown missed. … The Celtics on Tuesday assigned first-round rookie Baylor Scheierman to their G League affiliate in Maine. Scheierman shot an ugly 16.7% from the floor during the preseason and couldn’t crack Mazzulla’s veteran-laden rotation. He’s only played in garbage time since the regular season began, going 1-for-6 and 0-for-4 from three across three appearances. There is no limit on how much time Scheierman can spend in the G League, though he’ll continue to occupy a spot on Boston’s 15-man roster. Maine opens its season this Friday against the Long Island Nets.