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Jayson Tatum knows exactly the last time he picked up a basketball and got shots up.
It was back on March 10, which just so happens to be when the Boston Celtics last played, taking a 114-111 road win against the Indiana Pacers before the COVID-19 pandemic shut the NBA down.
“I haven’t been able to touch a basketball since our last game at Indiana,” Tatum revealed on ESPN’s The Jump Monday afternoon as Tatum put up 30 points, six rebounds and four steals in that win coming over a month ago versus the Pacers.
Jayson Tatum was on The Jump today.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) April 13, 2020
"I haven't been able to touch a basketball since our last game at Indiana."
Tatum was asked why he doesn't have a hoop at his house and cited the weather in Boston as being too rainy and/or cold to go outside and play often enough.
And even if Tatum did have a basketball he could get his hands on, he wouldn’t be able to shoot around at his home in Boston. The reason? Tatum doesn’t own a basketball hoop and explained on The Jump why he hasn’t made that purchase.
“I thought about it, but the weather up here isn’t great,” Tatum said. “Five out of six days it’s raining and it’s still pretty cold up here.”
The 22-year-old, who was named to his first All-Star team this season, was in the midst of a breakout campaign by averaging 23.6 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game to go along with shooting 39.8 percent from behind the 3-point arc.
If the NBA does resume the season at some point in the future, it’s evident most players will need time to knock off the rust, especially Tatum. So Jayson, with the better weather on the horizon, it’s time to set up a hoop in the driveway.