On Tuesday afternoon, the Boston Celtics fell to 0-1 with a huge blown lead against the Detroit Pistons on the road. It was a particularly bad game for star Jayson Tatum, who shot just 6-23 from the field in the loss and laid several bricks down the stretch as Boston attempted to make a late rally.
Now, sports media personality Colin Cowherd of FS1 has dropped an interesting historical comp for Tatum amid the rough game.
“I've been on an island for 7-8 years. You keep telling me Jayson Tatum is Kobe and I keep telling you he's Pippen,” he said, per Herd w/Colin Cowherd on X, formerly Twitter.
Here, Cowherd seems to be insinuating that Tatum is more suited in a “Robin” role rather than a Batman role, having taken a backseat to Jaylen Brown when the Celtics won the NBA title back in 2024.
Last year, when Tatum was out for most of the season with a torn Achilles, Brown led the team to 56 wins, although they ended up blowing a 3-1 lead in the first round of the playoffs, after which Brown was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers, making it clear that Boston viewed Tatum as its alpha moving forward.
Article Continues BelowHowever, some fans have agreed that Tatum's struggles to generate quality offense in late-game isolation situations have made it so that he is more suited as a secondary offensive player rather than a primary option down the stretch of close games, and that certainly seemed to be the case on Tuesday, as Paul George carried the load for Boston offensively with 38 points.
In any case, the Celtics will hit the floor for their home opener on Friday evening with a tough home game vs the reigning NBA champion New York Knicks.

