Russell Westbrook is ‘one of the best players in the league,’ says Jayson Tatum

Justin Quinn
·2 min read
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Boston Celtics All-NBA small forward Jayson Tatum shared his thoughts about a different opponent he’ll be facing Sunday evening than he’s used to fielding questions about when playing a certain opposing team.

Childhood friends with Washington Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal, it’s usually Beal that Tatum gets peppered with questions about in pre- and post-game media availability sessions when the Celtics play the Wizards. But today, the Duke product fielded a question about Beal’s backcourt co-starter — former NBA Most Valuable Player Russell Westbrook — as Washington continues with a spate of excellent play driven in no small part by the UCLA product.

"He's one of the best players in the league," replied Tatum when asked what he's seen out of Westbrook over the last month.

"He had a slow start in the beginning of the season. Nobody that plays against him or competes against him goes into a game thinks that's who is. We know what he's capable of, what he's done in this league, so I'm not surprised he's been playing really well as of late. He probably gets a triple-double every night, he won MVP, so he's one of the best players in this league."

"You've got to compete against guys, and take the floor and know what they are capable of," he added.

https://twitter.com/TheCelticsWire/status/1366081860594503682?s=20 Tatum undoubtedly recalls being burnt by Westbrook while he was a Houston Rocket, and has since learned his lesson regarding providing bulletin-board material for the Wizards floor general in the meantime. The Missouri native and the rest of the Celtics roster will test the Wizards as much as anyone with a home court Sunday evening at 7 p.m. ET contest as they seek to set a tone with their first consecutive wins in a month. https://embed.sendtonews.com/oembed/?SC=u4BOtlOnDM-1175201-8380&autoplay=on&V=2&format=json This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook! [lawrence-related id=47142,47137,47107,47109] [listicle id=47174]

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