Jayson Tatum
November 1989
On April 9, Tatum had a then career-high 53 points, 16 made field goals, and 15 made free throws in a 145–136 win against the Minnesota Timberwolves. With his career night, Tatum was the youngest Celtics player to score 50+ points; he also scored the third-highest number of points in a Celtics uniform, behind Larry Bird and Kevin McHale, and became the second player in Celtics history to score 50+ points and grab 10+ rebounds since Bird did it back in November 1989. Tatum and Zach LaVine of the Chicago Bulls became the second pair of players in the 2020–21 season to score 50+ points on the same day. On April 19, Tatum recorded his first career triple-double with 14 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists in a 102–96 loss to the Chicago Bulls.
1997
Tatum is the son of Justin Tatum and Brandy Cole. Justin Tatum played basketball at Saint Louis University and is a gym teacher and basketball coach at Christian Brothers College High School in St. Louis, from which he graduated in 1997, approximately a year before Jayson's birth; Tatum's father was previously the coach and athletics director at Soldan International Studies High School for six years. Tatum was born when his parents were both 19-year-old undergraduates; his mother Brandy graduated from Saint Louis University School of Law and is now a practicing attorney in the St. Louis area. Tatum is the godson of former NBA player Larry Hughes, who was his father's high school and college teammate; he is also a cousin of former NBA player and current Los Angeles Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue.
March 03, 1998
Jayson Christopher Tatum (/ˈteɪtəm/ TAY-təm; born March 3, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A McDonald's All-American in high school in Missouri, he played college basketball for the Duke Blue Devils.
2002
On January 5, 2023, Tatum put up his second career triple-double with 29 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 assists in a 124–95 win over the Dallas Mavericks. On January 11, Tatum posted 31 points, 10 rebounds and four assists in a 125–114 win against the New Orleans Pelicans. It was the 10th time that Tatum and Brown (41 points) combined to score 70+ points. The Celtics are undefeated in those games. On January 16, Tatum scored a season-high 51 points, along with nine rebounds and five assists on 15-of-23 shooting, 7-of-12 from three, 14-of-14 from the free throw line in a 130–118 win over the Charlotte Hornets. He also surpassed Larry Bird for the most 50-point regular season games in Celtics history. On January 19, in a rematch of the 2022 NBA Finals, Tatum put up 34 points alongside a career-high 19 rebounds, six assists and three steals in a 121–118 overtime win over the Golden State Warriors. He became the first Celtic to record 30+ points, 15+ rebounds, and 5+ assists in a game since Paul Pierce in 2002. Tatum also became the 10th player in NBA history to reach 9,000 career points before the age of 25. On January 26, Tatum was named an Eastern Conference starter for the 2023 NBA All-Star Game, marking his fourth overall selection and first as a starter.
2014
Tatum attended Chaminade College Preparatory School in Creve Coeur, Missouri. As a freshman, he averaged 13.3 points and 6.4 rebounds per game and was named 2013 Metro Catholic Conference (MCC) Co-Player of the year, leading the Red Devils to both MCC and Missouri District 2 crowns. As a sophomore in 2014, he averaged 26.0 points and 11.0 rebounds per game.
2015
As a senior in 2015–16 Tatum averaged 29.6 points and 9.1 rebounds and posted six 40-point games while leading Chaminade to its second Missouri Class 5A state championship. Tatum was selected to the 2016 McDonald's All-American Game in January 2016, where he won the Skills competition, and in the all-star game on March 30, 2016, at the United Center in Chicago, leading the East Team in scoring with 18 points and grabbing 8 rebounds in a 114–107 loss. In April, Tatum also played in the Jordan Brand Classic, where he scored 18 points in a 131–117 win against the West team. Tatum was named the 2016 Gatorade National Player of the Year.
2016
Boston Celtics general manager Danny Ainge dealt away the team's No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft to the Philadelphia 76ers in hopes that he could acquire another valuable draft pick and still target the player he actually wanted, Tatum. They selected him with the third overall pick, which they received from Philadelphia. He was the Celtics' second straight No. 3 pick for a small forward, following Jaylen Brown in 2016. During the 2017 NBA Summer League event in Utah, he displayed his abilities to effect, averaging 18.7 points, 9.7 rebounds, 2.3 steals, and 2.0 assists in nearly 33 minutes of action. Later, in Las Vegas, Tatum produced similar results, averaging 17.7 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.0 assists, and 0.8 blocks in nearly 32 minutes of action in the three games he was allowed to play. He was named to the All-Summer League Second Team alongside Bryn Forbes, Cheick Diallo, Wayne Selden Jr., and Kyle Kuzma.
2016
Tatum was named to the All-ACC Tournament team, after averaging 22.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game for the Blue Devils. As the #2 seed entering the NCAA tournament, Duke defeated Troy University in the first round, but exited early in a second-round loss against South Carolina. Tatum averaged 16.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game in the tournament. In his freshman season for Duke in 2016–17, Tatum played 29 games and averaged 16.8 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.1 assist, and 1.3 steals per game, and was named to the ACC All-Freshman team & a third team All-ACC selection. Tatum had a successful freshman season at Duke, ranking fourth in made free throws (118), rebounds (fifth), and free throw percentage (849.).
December 03, 2016
Before the start of 2016–17, Tatum missed 8 games due to a foot injury. On December 3, 2016 in his Duke debut, Tatum recorded 10 points in a 94–55 win over Maine. On December 6, 2016, Tatum tallied 22 points and 8 rebounds in an 84–74 victory over Florida at the Jimmy V Classic. On December 12, 2016, Tatum was named ACC freshman of the week. On December 21, 2016, Tatum scored 18 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 blocks in a 72–61 win over Elon. On January 4, 2017, Tatum scored 19 points in a 110–57 victory over Georgia Tech. On January 7, he recorded 22 points and 6 rebounds in a 93–82 victory over Boston College. On January 21, Tatum scored 14 in a 70–58 win over Miami. On February 13, Tatum earned his second ACC freshman of the week honor. On February 15, he scored a season-high 28 points and had 8 rebounds in a 65–55 victory against Virginia. On February 18, 2017, Tatum scored 19 points in a 99–94 victory over Wake Forest. As the fifth seed in the ACC tournament, Duke defeated Clemson in the second round and Louisville in the quarterfinals. On March 10, Tatum scored 24 points in a win over rival North Carolina in the semifinals. On March 11, Tatum tallied 19 points and 8 rebounds in a 75–69 victory against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, earning the Blue Devils the ACC tournament championship.
2017
Tatum's son, Jayson Jr. (commonly nicknamed "Deuce"), was born in 2017.
October 24, 2017
In his NBA debut, Tatum recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds as the team's starting power forward in a 102–99 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Tatum then recorded a season-high 24 points in a win over the New York Knicks on October 24, 2017. He was named the Eastern Conference's Rookie of The Month for December 2017.
2018
Tatum was selected with the third overall pick by the Boston Celtics in the 2017 NBA draft. He was voted to the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 2018. A four-time NBA All-Star and three-time All-NBA selection, Tatum was named the NBA Eastern Conference Finals Most Valuable Player in 2022 and helped the Celtics reach the NBA Finals. He also won a gold medal on the 2020 U.S. Olympic team in Tokyo. He holds the record for most points scored in an NBA All-Star game, with 55, and the most points scored in a Game 7 of any NBA playoffs series, with 51.
May 22, 2018
On May 22, 2018, Tatum was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team (First Team).
June 21, 2019
As of 2017 , Tatum is a spokesperson for Imo's Pizza. On June 21, 2019, Tatum signed with the Jordan Brand. He is also endorsed by Subway and Gatorade.
December 22, 2019
On December 22, 2019, Tatum scored a then career-high 39 points, along with 12 rebounds, in a 119–93 win over the Charlotte Hornets. He would exceed that with a then career-high 41 points against the New Orleans Pelicans in a 140–105 win on January 11, 2020. On January 30, Tatum was named an NBA All-Star for the first time in his career, being selected as an Eastern Conference reserve. On February 13, Tatum would again score 39 points, while playing 47 minutes and leading Boston to a 141–133 double overtime win over the Los Angeles Clippers. On February 23, he matched his then career-high 41 points in a 114–112 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. As the season was halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Tatum would shoot 2–18 against the Milwaukee Bucks on July 31, but he would come back the next game scoring 34 points on 11–22 shooting in a 128–124 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on August 2. He was named to the All-NBA Third Team and his first selection of his career.
November 22, 2020
On November 22, 2020, Tatum and the Celtics agreed to a rookie maximum extension of five years, worth $195 million. On the opening night of the season on December 23, 2020, Tatum totaled 30 points and seven rebounds, alongside a game-winning three-pointer, in a 122–121 win against the Milwaukee Bucks. On January 3, 2021, Tatum had 24 points and a career-high 12 assists and made another game-winning basket in a 122–120 win against the Detroit Pistons. The next day, Tatum scored a season-high 40 points in a 126–114 win against the Toronto Raptors. On January 9, 2021, it was confirmed that Tatum tested positive for COVID-19 and missed multiple games. On 23 February, Tatum was named an Eastern Conference reserve for the 2021 NBA All-Star Game. It was his second All-Star game in a row.
October 25, 2021
Tatum led the league in Plus-minus for the first time in his 5th season, cementing his status as one of the most valuable players in the NBA. On October 25, 2021, in a 140–129 overtime victory over the Charlotte Hornets, Tatum recorded 41 points, 7 rebounds, and 8 assists to lead the Celtics to their first win of the season. On January 23, 2022, Tatum scored a then season-high 51 points along with 10 rebounds, 7 assists, and a career-high 9 three-pointers in a blowout 116–87 win over the Washington Wizards. On February 3, Tatum was selected for his third consecutive All-Star appearance. On March 3, Tatum scored 21 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter along with 6 rebounds and 5 assists in a 120–107 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. The following game, Tatum topped his season-high with 54 points, 34 of them in the second half in a 126–120 win over the Brooklyn Nets. This was the fourth time Tatum had netted 50+ points in a game in his career, tying Larry Bird for the most 50-point games in Celtics history. On March 7, Tatum was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week after averaging 41.3 points per game, 6.3 rebounds per game, and 5.0 assists per game. The next game, Tatum scored 16 of his 44 points in the fourth quarter in a 115–101 win over the Charlotte Hornets. On March 18, in a 126–97 win over the Sacramento Kings, Tatum and Jaylen Brown each scored at least 30 points in the same game for the fourth time in the season and eight time overall; this tied the record of most such games with fellow Celtics' Larry Bird and Kevin McHale, who also recorded four such games in the 1986–87 NBA season. The following game, in a 124–104 victory over the Denver Nuggets, Tatum and Jaylen Brown broke the record by both scoring 30 points with over 60% shooting from the field. On March 28, Tatum became the first player in franchise history to be named Player of the Week in back-to-back weeks.
November 30, 2022
On November 30, 2022, Tatum scored 49 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and made 8 three-pointers in a 134–121 win over the Miami Heat. He became the youngest player in NBA history to make 900 three-pointers, doing so at 24 years old and surpassing the previous record set by Bradley Beal at 25 years old. Tatum became the first player in NBA History to record multiple games of at least 45 points, 10 rebounds and eight three-pointers made. He also became the sixth player in NBA history to have multiple games with 45 points or more with 10 or more rebounds while only committing one turnover or fewer, joining the company of Anthony Davis (six such games), Michael Jordan (three), Giannis Antetokounmpo (three), Kobe Bryant (two) and Carmelo Anthony (two). He was named Eastern Conference Player of the Month, averaging 31.6 points per game, 7.8 rebounds per game, and 4.5 assists per game in October and November. On December 13, Tatum recorded 44 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists in a 122–118 overtime win over the Los Angeles Lakers. On December 25, Tatum scored 20 of his 41 points in the third quarter, along with 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals in a 139–118 blowout win over the Milwaukee Bucks. He and Jaylen Brown (29 points) combined for 70 points in a game for the eighth time in their careers.
