Back in June, "The Ringer" ranked Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum as the No. 13 player in the NBA.

National radio host Colin Cowherd said he had no problem with the ranking, offering some pointed criticism of Tatum. He said that there are times where he doesn't lead, times where he doesn't initiate, and too often there are times where he doesn't close.

However, the stats tell a different story. After Tatum hit the game-winning shot against the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night, the NBA put out the note saying that Tatum now has the most game-winning shots inside three seconds to play since the 2019-20 season.

So, the numbers indicate the opposite of what Cowherd said: Tatum can certainly close.

Let's examine a little deeper.

I'm actually a big fan of Cowherd's, so I want to give him the benefit of the doubt here. While the numbers do prove that Tatum is clutch with the ball in his hands late, I do think it's fair to point out that one of my bigger criticisms of Tatum through the years has been that he's too passive at times. I have agreed with Cowherd that he doesn't always initiate, and I do think that he settles for jumpers too much.

I'd like to see him put his head down and get to the basket more often, especially in crunch time. He's too athletic to not take advantage of it.

While I've had a similar criticism, it's also correct to say that Tatum is a smart player, and sometimes being passive and not forcing it isn't a bad thing when you have the caliber of teammates that Tatum has had around him.

Since coming into the league in 2017-18, Tatum has played alongside Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward, Kemba Walker, Jrue Holiday, Al Horford, Kristaps Porzingis, Malcolm Brogdon and Jaylen Brown. 

Sometimes, making the smart play is making the right play. And there have been plenty of great players around him to push the issue or take shots late in games. Tatum hasn't had to "initiate" things.

He also hasn't had to lead for most of his career, given the veteran presences in Boston. The one year that he did (2024-25), he had the Celtics at 61-21 and the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.

Tatum is, finally, the unquestioned leader of this team and this organization moving forward. It's not just a one-off thing. There is no Brown anymore, so the locker room culture, the end-of-game stuff, it will fall on him more often than not. It will be on him to initiate things in a way it hasn't been before. There won't be anyone else to turn to, except for maybe Payton Pritchard in spots.

So now, we'll get a more fair chance to see if Cowherd's hypothesis is correct.