Who’s had the better career: Luka Doncic or Jayson Tatum?
Dallas' Luka Doncic and Boston's Jayson Tatum have finished battling it out in the 2024 NBA Finals, with Tatum's Boston securing a dominant victory in five games.
According to Yahoo Sports, despite the damming loss for the Mavericks, Doncic still showed his offensive power throughout the series, averaging 29.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 5.6 assists, shooting 47.5% from the field.
Doncic (25) and Tatum (26) have been constantly compared in the last few years as both are trying to become the marquee players in the NBA for the foreseeable future.
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After battling it out on basketball's biggest stage, who has had the better NBA career up to now? Is it Luka Doncic or Jayson Tatum?
Jayson Tatum has had one extra season than Luka Doncic in the NBA, with Tatum being picked third in the 2017 NBA Draft and Doncic also being picked third in the 2018 NBA Draft.
Even though Tatum has had an extra season in the NBA, Luka Doncic still beats Tatum in nearly every major category, from personal accolades to leading in the major statistics.
According to the Land of Basketball website, Doncic has five All-NBA First-Team selections to Tatum's three, the Mavericks guard has one scoring title to Tatum's none, and Doncic has won the NBA Rookie of the Year, while Tatum hasn't.
Even though Tatum has played an extra season, the pair have the same number of All-Star appearances (5). As well as personal accolades, Doncic has better averages than Tatum in points, rebounds, and assists.
Doncic has averaged 28.7 points per game to Tatum's 23.1, the Slovenian has averaged 8.7 rebounds to Tatum's 7.2, and Doncic has averaged 8.3 assists to Tatum's 3.5.
On the surface, it looks as though Doncic has wiped the floor with Tatum, but the Boston Celtics star has proved he can show up on the biggest stage, winning an NBA Championship and going to the playoffs three more times than his European counterpart.
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The Real GM website reports that Jayson Tatum has reached at least the conference finals in five of his first seven seasons in the NBA, while Doncic has only made it past the first round on two occasions for the Mavericks.
Tatum's 16 first-half points in game five against the Mavericks gave him 2,696 playoff points (now 2,711), which is the most of any player aged 26 or younger. Kobe Bryant was the previous record holder with 2,694 in 119 games for the Los Angeles Lakers.
In comparison to Luka Doncic, the Mavericks guard has only scored 1,518 points in the playoffs, setting him way back from the heights of Bryant and Tatum.
Ranked against players before turning 27 in the NBA Playoffs, Tatum is 6th in playoff assists, 2nd in playoff rebounds, 1st in playoff threes, 9th in playoff steals, and 13th in playoff blocks.
According to Bleacher Report, since Tatum arrived in the NBA in 2017, the Boston Celtics have 428 regular and postseason wins, 20 more than the nearest team.
Who do you think has had the better career so far in the NBA? Does Doncic's brilliance take it, or has Tatum's team record and stats won you over?
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