Tatum and the Celtics are both off to a great start, mainly because of him.

This is an odd but somewhat bizarre statistic: Thirty.5% of Jayson Tatum’s career games have seen him score at least thirty points. Compared to Stephen Curry, there is a higher percentage. Though not exactly apples to apples, you get the idea. Tatum is beginning to rank among the greatest scorers of all time, if a little subtly.

He repeated the feat on Monday, scoring 35 points against the Knicks, his fourth 30-point performance in the previous five games, as the Celtics overcame them 114-98 to improve to 8-2 on the year. Tatum recorded his 137th 30-point performance in a game. That’s in nearly 200 fewer games than Kawhi Leonard.

That statistic is again arbitrary. However, it made me reflect. After I began researching 30-point games, I discovered the following: Tatum has played in 97 30-point games since 2020–21. That exceeds Curry’s tally of 93. You would be partially correct if you said that Tatum played in more games during that time. He engaged in twenty more games.

Let’s proceed based on percentages. Exactly half of Curry’s games from the previous season saw him score 30 points or more. When Kevin Durant last participated in over 55 games (2021–2022), he scored thirty points forty–five percent of the time. LeBron James, the all-time top scorer in the sport? He scored thirty points per game (30 PPG) in 2007–08, his highest-scoring season, 52% of the time.

How about Tatum? Are you set? Six out of ten games this season had saw him score at least thirty points, a feat he accomplished in 57% of his games the previous year. Just two games separated Tatum’s 11 40-point performances from the 13 that Curry recorded during his season that was unanimously selected as MVP (2015–16). During the same time period, how many 40-point games has LeBron scored in a single season? Number nine.

Tatum, who just turned 25, is the newest player in Celtics history to score 10,000 points in a career. If you’re serious about beginning to create long-term forecasts, think about this: Tatum would finish with more than 32,000 career points, within striking distance of surpassing Michael Jordan, who is currently fifth all-time, if he were to play until he is 38 (which is not entirely impossible) and average 26 points per game over an average of 65 games per season (both reasonable).

Tatum could move up to fourth place with his average of 28 points per game, which he has maintained over the last two seasons, surpassing Kobe Bryant. Some may argue that Tatum won’t play for 65 games a season, or that even in those 65 games, he won’t average that many points. You might be correct, in my opinion, but he might continue to play after the age of 38.

Whatever way you look at it, Tatum is beginning to rank among the all-time best scorers. Yes, he still has a long way to go.

Tatum’s 35 on Monday marks a season high. For a scorer of Tatum’s calibre, it’s hardly a big figure as a season high, particularly this early in the game, but it does highlight the incredible consistency he has shown to begin the season.

Of Boston’s 30 points in the fourth quarter on Monday, Tatum either scored or assisted on 22 of them. The Celtics were only ahead by three at 8:20. Boston’s lead grew to 16 points after Tatum scored 15 points in the following six minutes, starting with a step-back four-point play. The game is over.

This season, Tatum is scoring in more ways than ever before. According to Synergy, he is scoring on 12% of his possessions, up from 5% the previous year, and scoring at an elite rate of 1.24 points per possession, which puts him far ahead of players with similar positioning to Durant, Luka Doncic, and even LeBron, who operate almost as frequently with their back to the basket.

Do you want figures? We all know the Celtics are stacked, so when every player leaves a game, they all have a positive net rating—aside from one. Jaylen Brown releases a video? The Celtics are now minus-17.9. No Porzingis Kristaps? 7.1 still positive. From the bench to Jrue Holiday? minus 7.0. Without Derrick White? +/- 5.6.

Who may the lone exception to this rule be, you wonder? Yes, Tatum is here. According to stats released on Monday, the Celtics are outscoring their opponents by 23.4 points per 100 possessions when Tatum is on the court and by 13.6 points per 100 when he is not.

I say it again: Who else from Boston leaves the court? It’s okay, Celtics fans. Should Tatum emerge? Inside the tank they go. When you do the math, you’ll find that Tatum, by himself, represents a 37-point swing over the course of 100 possessions in a standard NBA game.

Once more, the players on the Celtics are extremely gifted. With his lowest usage rate since his third year in the league, Tatum is averaging just under 29 points on 52% shooting, including 40% from three. This puts him well ahead of the competition. According to Cleaning the Glass, his efficiency rating of 130.9 points per 100 possessions is the highest in his career. As is the 62% of 2-pointers he is making.

The concerning thing is that Tatum’s pick-and-roll ball handling, which is essentially his bread-and-butter role, only yields 0.61 PPP. All of these other figures will appear much more impressive when that number finally appears. What a way for Tatum, and the Celtics in general, to open the season.