Jayson Tatum Backs Gordon Hayward Calling Out 2018-19 Celtics: 'S--t Was Terrible'

Former Boston Celtics star Gordon Hayward recently reflected on his experience with the 2018-19 team during an appearance on Paul George's podcast, and it appears Jayson Tatum agrees with his former teammate's assessment of that squad.

Tatum told the Boston Globe's Adam Himmelsbach of the 2018-19 Celtics:

"I mean, yeah, that s--t was terrible. You guys saw it. We've all talked about it. It didn't work out how we wanted it to, and we were a very talented team but it just didn't mesh the way we wanted it to. And that's all right. Guys learned and everybody's moved on from it. But what Gordon said was kind of right. Guys would come back from injury, guys were trying to prove themselves, like myself. I was trying to be better than I was last year, and it was just kind of a tough year."  "

Tatum added: "Everybody wanted to do more. And we didn't quite understand how we all could coexist with each other. And you just learn from that. No matter how talented a team is, it still has to work together and figure it out. And like Gordon said, we still made it to the second round. Like, it could have been worse."

Hayward, who now plays for the Charlotte Hornets, said earlier this week on Podcast P with Paul George that the 2018-19 Celtics had "too many agendas" and that "the agenda to win the whole thing was not the main one."

"We had probably eight players who had career highs over 40, who were all arguably in their prime," Hayward told George (55 minute mark). "... The other problem is there was too many of us in the exact same position. We all needed the ball. We all rocked with the ball.

"... That was our biggest issue was we were just trying to all prove stuff individually and never really came together as a team."

The Celtics entered the 2018-19 season with high expectations with a roster highlighted by Tatum, Hayward, Kyrie Irving, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, Al Horford and Terry Rozier.

Boston finished the season fourth in the Eastern Conference with a 49-33 record but was eliminated by the Milwaukee Bucks in the conference semifinals as they failed to generate any sort of chemistry leading into the playoffs.

After the Celtics were eliminated from the postseason, Irving left Boston and signed with the Brooklyn Nets despite stating his intentions of re-signing with the franchise earlier in the year.

One year later after the 2019-20 season, the Celtics dealt Hayward to the Hornets in a sign-and-trade.

The Celtics have made plenty of roster changes since then, and 2023-24 team is perhaps the best the franchise has had in a long time thanks to the additions of Kristaps Porziņģis and Jrue Holiday alongside Tatum and Brown.

The emergence of Derrick White, who is averaging a career-high 17 points per game, in the starting five has also done wonders for Boston this season.

The Celtics sit first in the Eastern Conference with a 26-7 record and are primed to make a run to the NBA Finals this year as Boston aims to secure its first championship since 2008.