Jayson Tatum is currently the leader of a well-rounded Boston Celtics that is trying to reach the Eastern Conference finals for the second time in three years. The young player has proven his value since he entered the league, improving his level year after year until reaching his current status.
Before the 2017 draft, he was linked with several teams, including the Los Angeles Lakers. It was the Celtics who took him with the 3rd overall pick, starting a new era for a team that didn’t have an icon since Paul Pierce.
Besides the Lakers and Celtics, Tatum flirted with another team, which was his preferred destination back in the day. Talking with JJ Redick on The Old Man and the Three podcast, the young star revealed that he wanted to go to Phoenix and even refused to travel to Boston for a second time.
“Phoenix had the fourth pick, so I was in Phoenix. I remember my agent called me, he was like, ‘yo, tomorrow I need you to pack a bag because you’re flying to Boston’. I’m like, ‘why I’m going to Boston?’ and he’s like, ‘they want you to see you work out again’. I’m like, ‘no, I don’t want to go to Boston, because I want to go to Phoenix, because it’s nice weather out here. I’ll be able to play, I’m gon’ be able to average 20. Boston, they just went to the Eastern Conference finals, I’m not gonna play’, I’m like, ‘no, I don’t wanna go to Boston’. 15 minutes later, Coach K calls me. He’s like, ‘hey, I just spoke to Boston, and they want to see you work out again. I think you should go’. I’m not gonna tell Coach K ‘no’, and I remember I went to Boston and I had a workout, even sitting at the draft table, I had no idea, I figured it would be Boston or Phoenix.”
In the end, the Celtics won this prize and landed Tatum with the 3rd overall pick. Five years later, the player is showing all his qualities at TD Garden, becoming the biggest figure on the team, trying to win the championship alongside Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, and co.
The Suns selected Josh Jackson with the next pick, ending their chances of getting Tatum, who was very interested in going to Arizona and developing his game. Life is funny and this year, we could see a Suns-Celtics Finals, but we need to wait and see if they can go all the way to the biggest series of all.
