Celtics’ Jayson Tatum eager for postgame messages

That dislocated finger may be part of the reason for Tatum's recent woes, particularly his 3 point shooting:

Celtics’ Jayson Tatum eager for postgame messages

By Gary WashburnGLOBE STAFF
FEBRUARY 3, 2018
There are nights after games when Jayson Tatum receives a long text message from his father Justin. These texts aren’t scathing criticisms of his son’s performance. They are words of advice, assessments, and encouragement.

Justin is in St. Louis coaching Christian Brothers College High School and speaks to his son nightly during the rigors of the 19-year-old’s rookie season with the Celtics. Tatum is expected to make the All-Rookie first team and is headed to Los Angeles along with teammate Jaylen Brown to play in the Rising Stars Challenge during All-Star Weekend.

On nights like Friday, when he scored a career-high 27 points and led the shorthanded Celtics to a 119-110 win over the Atlanta Hawks, Tatum will receive a much-anticipated text from his father, just reminding him to keep working through his slumps because the result will be nights like these.

“He watches all of my games; he gives me advice sometimes, especially when I’m not playing my best,” Tatum said. “He tries to just tell me to have fun and reminds me that I’m still 19 and I’m doing what I love, so it’s just more encouragement than trying to be a coach.”

Tatum is a grown man on the court. His game is polished well beyond his years. The Celtics and the rest of the NBA had no idea he would make such an impact so soon, especially since he was one the youngest players drafted.

He is sixth in scoring and rebounding among rookies and first in 3-point percentage. He is well supported at games by his mother and newborn son, but he has moved forward without the in-person presence of his father. On Saturday, Justin’s Christian Brothers team took on Chaminade Prep, Jayson’s alma mater.

That game would unite the duo and they would drive home together after the matchup and discuss the specifics. Jayson misses his father’s presence at his games, but the strong bond and those basketball discussions endure.

“I wish he could be at all the games because when I was younger he used to coach me and he never was the type to yell and be all loud in the crowd,” Jayson said. “He would always sit off in the corner and he would make eye contact with me. My mom was the more emotional one. My dad was always low key and just talked to me after the game.”

So those text messages are even more important. They are long, and when he has quiet time, Tatum will read and digest.

“I know after the game he’ll send me a long message and he’ll kind of get the point across,” Tatum said. “I always take advantage of the knowledge that he gives me because he knows a lot more than I do and he’s helped me to get to where I am. I know everything he tells me is for my best interest.”

The question is whether Tatum has slammed into that proverbial rookie wall. In his past 20 games, Tatum, whose 3-point percentage was above 50 in the season’s first two months, has made just 31.3 percent of his attempts.

That 20-game stretch coincided with a dislocated right pinky sustained on Dec. 20 against the Miami Heat. Team doctors popped the pinky back into place but swelling remains and it has affected how Tatum grips the ball.

“I don’t want to blame my finger [for shooting issues], but obviously when it first happened it did bother me,” he said. “I never played with tape and it’s still swollen because it gets hit every game and I don’t tape it. It’s tough to grip the ball when I tape it, so I don’t tape it. I’ve just got to get used to it.”

On Friday it appeared that Tatum was working his way through his slump. It was his third consecutive game scoring in double figures after his 4-point outing in the Celtics’ showdown loss to the Golden State Warriors. The 19 shots he attempted Friday marked a season high, and there has been an internal push for Tatum to become more aggressive on offense.

Tatum is a 48.8 percent shooter from the field, and the coaching staff is urging him to take more shots.

Tatum has endured his share of successes and has worked through his slumps. Off the floor, he is warming to the Boston community, and made an appearance with a graduate media class Thursday at Boston University along with Globe reporter Adam Himmelsbach.

Tatum is reserved with the media, never showing his rather gregarious personality. That was different with the BU students.

“They were all grad students. It was cool. It put me back in the college mind-set,” he said. “I felt like I was back at school. I enjoyed it. I miss college, a lot. I had fun going back. I think it’s easier [to open up to them], especially being in a classroom, college setting. I’m not too far removed from them. They are around my age.”

Tatum is becoming a popular fixture around Boston and those postgame text messages from his father are reminders to remain humble and keep striving.

Gary Washburn can be reached at gwashburn@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GwashburnGlobe.