Jayson Tatum has had enough disrespect before heading into his championship-defending season. Firstly, he received the honor of representing the national side at the Paris Olympics. Before even he could cherish it, Steve Kerr, the coach, had plans to warm the bench with JT. And now, the Boston Celtics star has a newfound disdain from the ESPN crew. However, this time, the 26-year-old had a solid reinforcement from the Celts’ Insiders, but at the cost of disparaging Luka Doncic.

Heading into the deep end of the 2024 offseason, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps and Tim MacMahon came up with a show to draft the best players from the league to start a franchise. While the concept of the show is truly interesting, it has the potential to offend multiple franchises. And this is what exactly happened with the Celtics Insiders, John Karalis and Tom Westerholm. Before they even went on to dissect the list, the duo clarified that they disagreed with the way Jayson Tatum is categorized. Notably, he was selected as the #7 pick.

The ESPN duo selected Victor Wembanyama as the #1 pick. Karalis and Westerholm both had issues with it, but they let it slide saying, “He’s so damn good. You bet on him.” But they definitely had issues with the #2 pick, Luka Doncic.

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Especially, Karalis went on to question himself for doubting the pick, saying, “Is it me because I just watched him lose to the Celtics and lose because they were attacking him over and over and over again am I the only one who saw the Celtics win a championship by attacking Luka Dončić defensively, relentlessly.”

On the other hand, Westerholm stressed Jayson Tatum & Co’s Finals’ defensive strategy against the Slovenian guard and said, “They targeted Doncic specifically as much as possible and that was their whole plan. To me, that guy at two is very high.”

The Celtics Insiders make a rational inquiry!

It’s a no-brainer that Luka Doncic didn’t have answers for the Celtics’ defense in the Finals. Instead of deploying a double defense on the star guard, Joe Mazzulla had the nerve to make it a one-on-one, which eventually reduced the space on the court. Doncic, who dishes out triple-doubles at ease, managed to make only two assists in Game 1 and it was just the reflection for the remainder of the series.

After pointing out the Dallas Mavericks guard’s major inability in the Finals, the duo put forward a serious question, to make a case for Jayson Tatum. Karalis asked, “What is going on? Didn’t we just watch this guy win a championship?… We’re talking about, ‘Who do you want to start your team with so you can win a championship?’ And we’re still not at the guy who literally just did the thing that you’re trying to do.”

Nevertheless, it’s unfair to shrug off Doncic just for the Mavs’ embarrassment in the Finals. On an individual level, the 25-year-old has repeatedly found a spot in the MVP ladder in the last two seasons. So, will we expect a Mavs Insider to make a case for their prodigal son? Let us know in the comments below.

Before leaving, do watch the Dual Threat Show hosted by BG12 where Bulldogs’ Asia Avinger details her experience with Kobe Bryant, her WNBA ROTY picks, and more in the video below.