Jayson Tatum deserves more respect

Jayson Tatum has become a complete player. He's operating at a new level and controlling the game's flow. Rather than hijacking the offense and acting like a superstar, he's facilitating for his teammates, allowing others to shine. He's fighting for rebounds on every possession and providing timely help defense.

Unfortunately for Tatum, his shooting slump is the only aspect of his game he's being judged on. The media and the wider NBA fanbase are looking at his point production and making unfair conclusions about his impact. On Wednesday's edition of FanDuel TV's "Run It Back," Chandler Parsons said that Tatum wouldn't be receiving his current criticism if his name was Luka Doncic or Nikola Jokic.

"If this were Luka, if this were Jokic, we would be praising him for how he’s getting his teammates involved, how he’s letting the game come to him," Parsons said. "How their offense is more balanced. They're winning. We’re still finding a way to nitpick Jayson Tatum, even though they're dominating this postseason. They're cakewalking into the Finals...The guy is averaging 17/10/8...leave him alone!”