The Boston Celtics faithful are nodding with a grin in their faces. Who can blame them? Jayson Tatum is surging. We don’t know how fast he’ll go but you’d best believe that he’s on the speedway towards his true potential, and he might just have a dose of nitro attached to the engine.

It’s even more exciting when you think about how things got derailed in his sophomore year, so allow us to get into the kid’s NBA trajectory.

2017-18: Sensational rookie year

He was part of that exciting wave from the 2017-18 class that made an immediate impact – a list that included Donovan Mitchell, Kyle Kuzma, Lauri Markkanen, and Ben Simmons.

No one went further than Tatum, though. After appearing and starting in 80 regular season games, where he averaged 13.9 points on 47.5% shooting, he helped guide the Kyrie Irving-less Boston Celtics into the Eastern Conference Finals. They then pushed the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers to seven games before getting bounced.

The key thing there was the fresh-faced 20-year-old came out of the 2018 playoffs as a man. He compiled 18.5 PPG in the postseason and had seven straight games with 20 or more points.

Take it from The King, who he walloped with a tomahawk jam:

2018-19: Sophomore slump

Tatum’s sophomore year was highly anticipated, especially since he was part of a highly-touted Celtics team that would “rule” the East – he and co-Celtic youngster Jaylen Brown were emerging, plus, Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward, who missed all of the previous season because of a nasty injury, were both healthy.

Bill Simmons, a Celtic superfan and a god to all sports nerds, even predicted they’d go 67-15.

Welp. WRONG. Chemistry was a big issue for the Celtics in the 2018-19 season and it the dysfunction leaked into Tatum’s development. The “sophomore slump” came into play too, and it brought him down, kind of like that woman on Shutter.

Tatum averaged an underwhelming 15.7 points in the regular season and he wasn’t any better in the playoffs (15.2 PPG, 43 FG%). Boston also imploded in the Eastern Conference Semifinals as the team got manhandled by the Milwaukee Bucks, 4-1.

2019-20: The third-year explosion

All that has led to a more chill start to Tatum’s third year. Expectations were low and they acquired a new starting point guard in Kemba Walker. Walker delivers a similar scoring punch and he’s not as erratic as Kyrie Irving, who departed for the Brooklyn Nets.

The first few months of the 2019-20 season saw Tatum establishing that he is indeed capable of becoming a 20-plus point scorer and reliable crunch time option. By the end of January, he was scoring 21.5 per game, only 0.4 less than Kemba. He also earned his first All-Star selection.

With his confidence and the coaches’ trust at a high, and Kemba getting hit by injuries, Jayson exploded in February. He ended the month with 30.7 points, 7.9 rebounds 3.2 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.3 blocks on 49.4% shooting. It included a 41-point performance in a marque match-up with LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers. It was in a losing effort, but he again earned ‘Bron’s respect:

Walker, Brown, and Enes Kanter are also raving about him. Heck, former Celtic All-Star Antoine Walker is even predicting a jersey retirement in Boston.

“Mamba Mentality”

Jayson is a professed fan of the late Kobe Bryant, and two had worked out together in the past off-seasons. The killer instinct that Bryant had rubbed off on Tatum, particularly this season where he is tasked to be more assertive than ever in crucial situations. He’s shooting 51% in the all-important fourth quarter and an impressive, Steph Curry-like 49.4% from three.

The Celtics are currently third in the East with a 41-18 slate thanks in good part to Tatum. It’s been a joy to anticipate his inevitable escalation this season and we should continue seeing him soar to new heights.

Next in Boston’s crosshairs are the Brooklyn Nets. Expect Jayson to have another big night.