"If you aspire to chase (Bird)," Tatum said, "it comes with a level of focus and motivation every single day to be the best you can."

Star Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum aspires to chase Hall of Fame Boston forward Larry Bird. You could do worse than try to aim your sights to match up with one of the ten best players to ever play the game,

F ans of the Boston Celtics have something special in star forward Jayson Tatum. The St. Louis native has evolved as a player, no longer hunting for big scoring numbers, and using

Jayson Tatum has stressed for years that he always aims to be the best. When it comes to becoming one of the greatest Celtics ever, he said he's chasing one legend in particular.

Star Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum is this generation's version of the LeBron James Swiss Army knife player. Or at least that is the position of the eponymous host of the "Hoops Tonight with Jason Timpf" podcast host on a recent episode of his show. And if you squint a bit, the comparison rings true.

"I always want to be the best. He’s, in my opinion, the best Celtic ever. He did it the right way, and he’s a great guy to chase in a sense."

Having had greats like Bill Russell, Larry Bird, Bob Cousy, and Kevin McHale represent them, the Cs have so many legends in the history of their franchise that some other teams will never catch up to that number of Hall-of-Fame players.

On Thursday evening, the Boston Celtics beat the Philadelphia 76ers by a score of 124-104. Jayson Tatum led the way with 15 points, 11 rebounds, ten assists and one steal while shooting 5/13 from the field and 2/7 from the three-point range in 35 minutes of playing time.