Moments after the buzzer sounded to End game 5 of the 2024 NBA Finals, with confetti swirling around them, Jayson Tatum and his mother embraced on the parquet. “What are they gonna say now?” they both shouted, referring to Tatum’s critics in media and fan bases around the league. “What are they gonna say now?”
Tatum and his mom were obviously elated to have won the title, but their celebration also revealed that they pay attention to what the haters say. Among other things, the championship validated the partnership of Tatum and Jaylen Brown, refuted the charges that the Celtics couldn’t be trusted to win, and confirmed Coach Joe Mazzulla’s strategy that a title can indeed be won by shooting more threes than everyone else.