Jayson Tatum’s childhood aspirations to sometime be like Kobe Bryant made the pre-2017 NBA draft course of nearly heartbreaking for the 26-year-old.
Tatum was 19 years outdated on the time and contemporary out of Duke, contemplating all avenues as soon as the ping-pong balls granted the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, Philadelphia 76ers and Phoenix Suns the primary, second, third and fourth picks, respectively. To Tatum’s recollection, the Lakers — his dream staff — expressed no real interest in drafting him.
Magic Johnson, the group’s president of basketball operations on the time, rejects Tatum’s telling of occasions.
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“No, we took a have a look at him,” Johnson informed SiriusXM NBA Radio on Monday. “… We have been high heavy in forwards. I couldn’t take him. As a result of we had Brandon Ingram, who was solely in his second yr. Julius Randle, Larry Nance Jr. So I already had too many forwards. There was already issues as a result of all of them needed to play. So if I took one other ahead, we’d’ve by no means seen this Tatum as a result of he would’ve been sitting on that bench as a result of we already had Julius and Brandon Ingram beginning.”
Johnson added: “His agent additionally didn’t need us to work him out as a result of he didn’t need him to finish up on the Lakers as a result of we’re already high heavy with the forwards.”
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The Lakers have been on the clock after Philadelphia drafted Markelle Fultz first general and handed on Tatum, electing to decide on Lonzo Ball as an alternative. Ball, a California native and UCLA product underwent a media tour alongside his marketing-genius father, Lavar Ball, who publicly ensured that Los Angeles would draft Ball when the time got here.
That imaginative and prescient got here to life seven years in the past, leaving a bitter style in Tatum’s mouth.
“For me, I grew up a Kobe fan. Like, I at all times needed to play for the Lakers,” Tatum mentioned on the “Membership 520” podcast in November. “So for them to have the No. 2 choose and it was prefer it wasn’t even a thought that I used to be going to get drafted, that was type of devastating so I by no means labored out for the Lakers. They by no means got here to look at me work out.”
Tatum by no means joined forces with LeBron James on the West Coast however future favored the five-time All-Star. The Celtics handed Tatum the keys — and a record-large $315 million contract extension this previous offseason — to the franchise, rebuilt the supporting solid by swinging trades for Derrick White, Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Vacation and rose Banner 18 within the 2024 NBA Finals. Not too shabby.
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It’s solely been eight seasons within the league to this point and Tatum’s already cemented a convincing legacy as one of many all-time Celtics greats, with nonetheless loads of time for extra.
