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Kevin Durant recognizes just how special Jayson Tatum is

© Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Phoenix Suns superstar Kevin Durant and Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum have had some legendary battles throughout their NBA careers.

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Just last week, Durant dropped a season-high 45 points against Boston, but Tatum’s Celtics pulled off a 117-107 victory.

When Durant was with the Nets, he matched up against Tatum in 2021 and 2022 in the first round of the playoffs. The Nets won in five games in 2021, while the Celtics swept Brooklyn in 2022.

In the regular season, Tatum leads the head-to-head series 10-8. One of Tatum’s best games of his career came against Durant when he dropped 54 points in a 126-120 Celtics victory over the Nets on March 6, 2022.

Now, Tatum at age 26 is having arguably the best season of his career, averaging 27.0 points, 8.4 rebounds and 4.9 assists in 62 games, helping the Celtics have the best record in the NBA by far at 51-14. Tatum ranked No. 4 on the latest MVP ladder on NBA.com released March 8. 

Durant took on the challenge of guarding Tatum in the Suns (38-27) first matchup against Boston and still put up 45 points.

“Big time performance,” Suns’ coach Frank Vogel said of Durant after the game. “You know how hard it is to do what he did offensively, while guarding an MVP candidate the entire night? I don’t think people understand how difficult that is, so just a really special performance by Kevin Durant tonight. Disappointed we couldn’t get the win tonight for him, but he was awesome tonight.”

Tatum and Durant’s relationship and respect level started along time ago when Tatum attended Durant’s camp. Tatum recalled in an interview that Durant was playing hard against the high school campers.

Durant, who was the NBA MVP in 2014, spoke to Tatum’s game after Suns’ practice yesterday and what makes Tatum an MVP candidate.

“His consistency all year, putting up a high number of points,” Durant said. “Stats matter when it comes to MVP. His team is winning games, most importantly, by a landslide … their record factors in too. He’s had MVP-caliber seasons the last few years too. It’s a matter of your narrative at this point.”

Even with their long-standing relationship and similar playstyle, Durant does not feel like Tatum solely modeled his game after him.

“I feel like he patterned his game after a lot of players,”  Durant said. “I think that’s what all the greats do, they take from everybody.

“I’ve been in this league a long time now, and I know when it’s a passing of the guard. I know when the young dudes are going to come in and do the same thing the older guys are doing. He’s one of those guys I feel like is going to control our league for the next 10-12 years, be a staple in our game and history of our game. This is about competing and trying to go out there and be the best individual you can be because you can see the game pushing forward when you on the court with somebody like that.”

Tonight, the two stars will face off for their second and final regular season matchup in Boston.

“You can tell so many people watching are inspired by that matchup,” Durant said. “It’s a great opportunity for us to just showcase how great the game of basketball is and how great we are as players.”

Kevin Durant’s Standout Performance Not Enough as Suns Fall to Celtics

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Brendan Mau is a senior writer covering the Phoenix Suns and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @Brendan_Mau

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