After the longest slate of high-level basketball of Boston Celtics star forward Jayson Tatum’s career and in the shortest offseason yet he’s seen after a trip to the 2022 NBA Finals, the St. Louis native is putting in work to grow his game and change his body for the season ahead.
With his Celtics having designs on not only getting back to the Finals but winning them, addressing the weak points in his game and the aspects of his physique most needing attention in the short weeks available will be something of a balancing act for Tatum and his trainer Drew Hanlen.
But it’s a challenge both have embraced earnestly, which Hanlen spoke at length about in a recent interview with the Boston Herald’s Mark Murphy.
“You need him to move well, you need him to stay lower which is a flexibility thing, get stronger for injury prevention, while also improving his cardio,” explained Hanlen of what Tatum most needed to focus on.
“(T)hat’s a hard thing to throw into a blender and come out with the perfect smoothie.”
“We thought he added too much weight last summer,” added Tatum’s trainer. “We loved the strength he added but thought the weight was slowing him down a little bit at the beginning of last season.”
“But once he got back down to the same playing weight, but continued to have the strength he developed, we thought that was a good place for his body to be at. It’s not necessarily about him bulking up or anything. It’s him continuing to figure out what’s the best combination of speed and size, which is a balance players have to play around with throughout their career.”
“The goal is to add strength,” suggested Hanlen. “We’re not worried about what he weighs.”
“The goal is to be stronger while continuing to move better,” he clarified. “Another big thing is flexibility so he can play lower and continue to be stronger, stay lower.”
“Another thing is cardio, so he can be in great shape with all of the minutes they need him to play. There’s a fine line, a weird line, not a black and white thing because there are so many moving parts.”
Tatum, known for his strong and consistent work ethic, is seen by his trainer as being more motivated than ever because of how close he and the Celtics were to winning it all in 2022.
“It’s also added more fuel to the fire because he was so close,” explained Hanlen. “He saw it. It was right in front of him. Now you know it’s not only realistic, but it’s closer than you think.”
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Story originally appeared on Celtics Wire