‘I could be his number one fan’: David Ortiz expressed why he believes Jayson Tatum will lead the Celtics to multiple titles

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“It’s not going to happen just once, it’s going to happen many times because he just keeps getting better.”

Jayson Tatum is looking to finally get over the championship hurdle this season. Another Boston sports icon believes he will make it. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

Jayson Tatum certainly has plenty of fans in Boston, but one of the city’s biggest former athletes claims he’s the biggest among them. He also has high hopes for the 25-year-old striker.

Red Sox icon David Ortiz shared his appreciation for Tatum when asked by NBC Sports Boston’s John Tomase how the Celtics star’s life in the city could change if he wins a title.

“I could be your number one fan in all of Boston. I love Jayson,” Ortiz said of Tatum. “In fact, yesterday I signed a shirt for him.”

After showing his love for Tatum, Ortiz began to express confidence that he will eventually lead the Celtics to Banner 18, and probably beyond.

“It will come. I’m telling you right now, it’s going to happen,” Ortiz said of Tatum’s chances of winning a championship. “It’s not going to happen just once, it’s going to happen many times because he just keeps getting better.”

Tatum and the Celtics have already smelled the title. They reached the NBA Finals in 2022 before losing to the Warriors in six games. In fact, the Celtics had a lead at the end of Game 4 that would have put them up 3-1 in the series, but Tatum and his team couldn’t seal the deal.

Boston seemed poised to make a comeback last season, winning 57 regular-season games, but hit a couple of snags in the playoffs. They needed to win two straight games against Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference semifinals and found themselves with a 3-0 deficit against Miami in the Eastern Conference finals. The Celtics won three in a row to win Game 7, but Tatum suffered an ankle injury in the first minute of the decisive game, leading to a crushing loss.

Once again, Tatum and the Celtics are in the fight to win a title. They were the betting favorites to win it all entering the year and had the best record in the league as of Friday at 15-4.

While the Celtics reached the NBA’s version of the last four in four of Tatum’s first six seasons, Ortiz believes the star has blossomed to the point where he can lead a team to a title, adding that he now understands to the Boston fan base. , also.

“He’s established himself as one of the elite players in the league,” Ortiz continued of Tatum. “He knows what it takes to win and he also knows where he plays. He knows the fans are real fans in Boston, and every time he steps on that court, he shows it.”

Tatum seemed to embrace Boston as his home more than ever during an interview with Jeff Goodman for The Messenger in Septemberadmitting, “I recently started to feel the connection to Boston.”

“I have spent my adult life here, my son has grown up here, I have grown up here. “I’ve accomplished so many things,” Tatum said then. “It has happened so quickly and Boston has played such a complex role in my life.

“I just feel like I relate more, much more these last two years. At first it was like I live here, but I’m from St. Louis. I’m a St. Louis kid. Now I’m part of Boston. “I really feel a connection to the city and the people of Boston.”

In the same interview, Tatum also said he would “love to be on the Celtics’ Mount Rushmore,” lending credence to Ortiz’s point that he knows the weight of the franchise he plays for.

As for how Tatum feels about Ortiz, the St. Louis native has expressed his appreciation for the Red Sox star in the past, even if he beat the Cardinals twice in the World Series.

“The legend,” Tatum wrote in an Instagram post of a photo of him with Ortiz in 2017, shortly after being drafted by the Celtics.