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When former Blue Devil Jayson Tatum was drafted, we thought he’d be good, but we had no idea he’d be as good as he’s become.
And as a 50-point playoff performance shows, he’s on the verge of being historically good. He still has work to do, but clearly, he’s risen into the top level of NBA players. If you overshadow Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and James Harden, you’re pretty much there.
One of the highlights of Friday night’s win was a move that left Durant scrambling to recover, which he could not.
It was also interesting to see Durant’s increasing bald spot juxtaposed with Tatum’s thick, young head of hair. Father Time is catching up to Durant as surely as it is to LeBron James and the young talents, as they always are, are pushing in and starting to force the older guys to the side.
It happened to Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Patrick Ewing, Shaq Tim Duncan and everyone this side of Michael Jordan who retired the basketball equivalent of an undefeated heavyweight boxing champion.
Durant and James are not finished yet but young stars like Tatum and Zion Williamson are closing fast.