Celtics notice Jayson Tatum leadership leap to begin camp

BOSTON — Jayson Tatum organized the workouts in Los Angeles that many of the Celtics’ players attended last month in an effort to get a head start on building chemistry between a new-look roster on and off the court. The roughly week-long trip to the west coast included Tatum and LA native Paul George, who returning players Payton Pritchard, Jordan Walsh, Sam Hauser and more received the opportunity to get to know before they all converged on Boston in September. It also gave Mike Conley Jr. his introduction to his new team.

“From the outside looking in, I always thought he was one of the best players in the league,” Conley said. “Getting to know him now, he’s a guy that I feel like is really coming into his own as a leader, a guy that’s ready to make a jump, I think after the last couple of years with the injury.”

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“He called everybody and said, let’s go workout, let’s go meet,” Conley recalled. “Let’s spend about 7-8 days out there, go golf, go out to eat. I feel like he’s setting up all kinds of things off the court. He’s bringing in huddles after practices. After every workout we we have, he has something to say, calling guys out, just really taking ownership of the situation, so that’s big.”

The newest Celtics see a vocal and involved Tatum through their first impressions of him, and Joe Mazzulla left room on media day for Tatum’s voice to grow into his 10th season. Tatum typically leads quietly by example, teammates have long observed, through his work ethic, consistent availability and versatile and unselfish approach to the game. Mazzulla said on Wednesday that he wants Tatum to continue that approach on the floor. Off it, Jaylen Brown’s absence leaves a void where he embraced an outspoken approach to leadership.

Payton Pritchard noticeably spoke out more often about play style preferences, things that the team has to do better while accepting various roles to make the team work. Mazzulla, the tone-setter in many ways, stressed a culture of connectivity since the offseason, acting on it through his trips to Nashville, Spain, Portugal, Dallas, Iowa and more. He also planned the Charleston,…

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Publish date : 2026-09-30 20:28:00

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