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Colin Cowherd continues Jayson Tatum slander while mocking city of Boston

Originally posted on NBA on ClutchPoints
By Steve Silverman | Last updated May 8, 2025 5:51 PM ET

The Boston Celtics have lost the first two games of their playoff series to the New York Knicks, and their players are getting ridiculed after blowing 20-point leads in both of those games. Stars like Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are bearing the brunt of the criticism from overbearing pundits like talk-show host Colin Cowherd.

The defending NBA champion Celtics appeared to overpower their critics when they captured their title by beating the Dallas Mavericks in five games in the 2024 NBA Finals. The dominating performance allowed the Celtics to win the 18th title in franchise history.

But a pair of losses in the first two games of the series has given Cowherd license to take shots at Tatum and the city of Boston. Cowher believes that Tatum missed a barrage of three-point attempts in the first two games because he lacks aggressiveness, and recognizing that weakness is why Golden State Warriors and U.S. Olympic head coach Steve Kerr didn’t play Tatum in a key role during last summer’s Olympics.

“Ability without aggression,” Cowherd said as he diminished Tatum. “He wanted closers. You can’t play for Boston in clutch moments, you’re not going to play for the country. This is what Steve Kerr saw. Two of his last three shots were fall-aways. I think at his core he has to be convinced to be aggressive.”

Tatum’s and Celtics’ struggles allowed Cowherd to go after the city of Boston

Fox Sports sports analysis Colin Cowherd with wife Ann Cowherd in attendance during UFC 300 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The Celtics clearly face a major challenge after losing the first two games at home and blowing huge leads. However, the Knicks still have to win two more games to win the series and eliminate the Celtics.

The Celtics had beaten the Knicks in each of their four regular-season meetings and head coach Joe Mazzulla’s team clearly had confidence going into the series. Boston has not only struggled with it’s three-point shooting — 25 of 100 in the first two games — the Celtics have been very sloppy with their turnovers and have played far too much one on one basketball in the fourth quarter of both games.

Cowherd has also criticized the city of Boston and Celtics fans by referring to them as “Boston Southie,” “Chowder,” and “Sully” when he brought up the criticism that Kerr faced for not giving Tatum a more prominent role on the U.S. Olympic team in Paris.

There is little doubt that Jayson Tatum and the Celtics did not play up to the historical standards of the organization in the first two games. However, two games does not conclude the series and the Celtics still have multiple opportunities to get back in the series and write a new script before their critics can bury them.

This article first appeared on NBA on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.

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