Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum. Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

Is Jayson Tatum the third greatest Celtic ever?

By Sai Mohan | Last updated Apr 15, 2025 8:15 AM ET

Bill Russell and Larry Bird are universally regarded as the two best Celtics, but the debate over the third-greatest player in franchise history rages on.

John Havlicek, Bob Cousy, Sam Jones, Paul Pierce and Dave Cowens are all viable candidates for the honor, but none of those past greats put up numbers comparable to Jayson Tatum.

Tatum finished the 2024-25 season with 1,932 points, 623 rebounds, 431 assists and 76 steals, leading the C's in all four categories for the second time in his career. He achieved the same feat in 2020-21.

As a result, Tatum joined Bird as only the second Celtic to lead the team in four statistical categories multiple times.

Jayson Tatum and Larry Bird are the only Celtics to the lead the team in total points, rebounds, assists and steals in a season multiple times ☘️ pic.twitter.com/Pba65g6hLi
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) April 14, 2025

Tatum — who averaged 26.8 points, 8.7 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 1.1 steals — is a lock to make the All-NBA First Team for a fourth consecutive year. Bird was the last Celtic to achieve the honor, making the All-NBA First Team for eight straight seasons between 1979-80 and 1987-88.

In the eyes of historians, Tatum will never surpass Bird or Russell in Celtic lore, and that's fair. However, he has a chance to shatter every franchise record before he hangs up his jersey.

At 27, Tatum (13,784) is already ninth all-time in Celtics points and is on pace to surpass Russell (14,522) and Jones (15,411) by the end of the 2025-26 season. He's also second only to Pierce in three-point field goals made and will surpass "The Truth" within the next few years.

Tatum's playoff heroics can't be overlooked, either. The star forward leads all Celtics in playoff PPG (23.99), surpassing Bird (23.76) when he led the team to Banner No. 18 last year. Tatum is also already the sixth-highest points scorer in Celtics postseason history and is on pace to jump to fourth by the end of the 2025 playoffs.

A second championship in June will further bolster Tatum's case as the third-greatest Celtic ever. He may even challenge Bird and Russell's crown with a few more titles. Tatum's story is just getting started.

Sai Mohan

A veteran sportswriter based in Portugal, Sai covers the NBA for Yardbarker and a few local news outlets. He had the honor of covering sporting events across four different continents as a newspaper reporter. Some of his all-time favorite athletes include Mike Tyson, Larry Bird, Luís Figo, Ayrton Senna and Steffi Graf.

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