After the Boston Celtics swept their season series against the Toronto Raptors on January 15, former Celtic Dennis Schröder had a strong message for his former colleague Jayson Tatum.
After the Celtics win, Tatum shared a photo of the signed jersey he received from Schröder, where it wrote, “Brodie 4 life. Go get that chip this year. PS Top 5.” Tatum’s photo was pooled by CelticsBlog’s Noa Dalzell’s X account.
Tatum and Schröder were teammates on the Celtics during the 2021-22 season before the Celtics traded the latter. Evidently, there are no hard feelings between the two players, as Schröder has seemingly claimed the two are still and have been friends since splitting up. Through his message to Tatum, Schröder obviously feels the Celtics are capable of winning a title this season and that Tatum is one of the top players in the NBA.
The Raptors have not enjoyed the same fortune as the Celtics throughout the 2023-24 season. Not only did the Celtics sweep them, but the setback made the Raptors 15-25 and the no. 12 seed in the Eastern Conference. There may not be a place for Schröder on the squad long-term if their season continues to trend south.
Jayson Tatum Praises Dennis Schröder
After the Celtics triumph, Jayson Tatum commended Dennis Schröder as a person and as a player while reflecting on their time as teammates.
“Great guy, great teammate, just super competitive,” Tatum added via Dalzell. “When you get to be around him a lot more that, if he sees something he doesn’t like, he’s gonna say it. If he did something I didn’t like, I was gonna say it. We kinda had that trust that we just wanted to win. We had harsh chats, but I acquired a lot of respect for him because, at his core, he simply wants to win. He’s a hell of a competitor.”
Schröder played 49 games for the Celtics until Boston moved him to the Houston Rockets. The Celtics were 31-25 before they traded Schröder. After the transaction, the Celtics won 20 of their last 26 games. Derrick White and Daniel Theis proven to be better fits around the squad than Schröder did that season.
Jayson Tatum Singles Out Jabari Parker
During his postgame news conference, Jayson Tatum also commented about another ex-Celtics teammate, Jabari Parker, who currently plays overseas.
“I did see he had a buzzer beater the other day,” Tatum said, according Taylor Snow’s X account. “I haven’t talked to Jabari in a minute, but somebody that I got a lot of respect for. Happy that he’s playing at a high level. Obviously, I got to play with him (in) two different stints with the Celtics.”
Tatum also commented about the influence Parker had on him as a player as he entered college.
“He was the reason I went to Duke. I wanted to be like him. So I’ve got a lot of love for him and delighted he’s playing well.”
Parker played for the Celtics from 2021 to 2022, however he was not featured much during his tenure in Boston. Parker came into the NBA with plenty of NBA, but recurring injuries, including two ACL tears in the same knee, cut his tenure in the league short. The Celtics were the final NBA franchise to hire him.
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