In the second quarter of the Boston Celtics’ 124-114 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday night, forward Jayson Tatum recorded his 10,000th career point.
In the history of the team, Tatum, 25, is the youngest player to reach 10,000 points. The 26-year-old Antoine Walker held the previous record.
“It’s kind of hard to process,” Tatum said. “In the moment, it’s a huge accomplishment. I’m extremely blessed to be part of such a great franchise. And I’ve just been fortunate to be on some really good teams; have some really, really good coaches and obviously have some great teammates that have helped contribute to 10,000 points along the way.”
Tatum drove into the lane, spun, and made the layup with 5:05 left in the quarter, all the while earning a foul on Brooklyn guard Cam Thomas. After that, Tatum made the free throw to put Boston ahead 52–48.
This season, Tatum, who was selected third overall in the 2017 draft, is averaging 29.8 points per game. With 11 rebounding and 32 points at the end of the game, hends.
“He shows up to work every single day,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “He puts in the work and and he dedicates his life to it. He doesn’t miss days. He doesn’t miss practices, games. And just his open-mindedness and wanting to be coached and wanting to be held to a high standard. When you have guys like that — that you can coach — it also allows you to bring the best out of everybody else and so he’s one of the guys that sets the tone for us.”