Did Jayson Tatum say he’s Steph Curry’s “proud father” in latest IG caption? Debunking viral tweet 

Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics handed Steph Curry's Golden State Warriors their third-worst loss in franchise history with a 52-point bashing. Sunday's 140-88 result in favor of the Celtics seemingly proved to be a statement win for Boston. Golden State has been one team that's bugged them since their resurgence, dating back to their 2022 NBA Finals matchup.

Tatum finished with 27 points and five assists, shooting only 13 attempts. Meanwhile, Curry finished the night with four points in 16 minutes on 2 of 13 shooting, including 0 of 9 from 3-point range.

Curry had no answers to the Celtics onslaught and defensive coverages in the first half, which cut short his and the rest of the starters' nights as Boston took an unassailable 82-38 halftime lead.

After the game, a viral tweet had NBA fans' attention that suggested Jayson Tatum had mocked Steph Curry on Instagram. The post shows Tatum and Curry's "AI" figure, with the former holding the latter, appearing as a toddler, with the caption:

"Proud father of Steph Curry"

Fans were stunned to learn about it. However, it's not a real post. The viral tweet came from a parody basketball account on NBA "X," formerly Twitter called "NBA Centel." The handle has frequently posted misleading photoshops like this as part of their theme as a parody page.

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Steph Curry reminisces about prime Golden State Warriors' form after a beatdown by Boston Celtics

Steph Curry and the Warriors aren't used to being on the other side of blowouts. But lately, they have been getting used to it. The Warriors haven't looked the same since winning the 2022 NBA championship against the Boston Celtics. They fought to survive in the top six race last season, eventually finishing sixth.

They are ninth in the West with 22 games left in the season, four games above .500 and three games back of the sixth seed in the loss column. One of Curry's first reactions after the beating by the Celtics was reminiscing how the Warriors were one of those teams at their peak.

"That’s what we used to do to teams," Curry said (via Celtics beat writer Bobby Manning).

The Warriors had 12 wins in their last 15 games. They also had a 132-126 OT win over the Celtics when the teams first met on Dec. 19 this season. Curry was phenomenal in that game, but Boston was prepared with one of the best defensive schemes seen against Curry recently.

The Celtics made the most of having five two-way starters, switching the four perimeter defenders as Curry ran around to get free. Boston ensured the ball pressure remained the same with all defenders, while the two-time MVP didn't get any space to operate through screens.

The Celtics smartly had Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown as the primary defenders on Steph Curry. That allowed the more agile Jrue Holiday and Derrick White to switch onto the Warriors star with their ability to slip through screens.