Once a player makes a name for himself in the NBA, many things change for him. For starters, they get a chance to sign an endorsement deal with a renowned shoe brand. Among those shoe brands, Michael Jordan’s “Jordan” brand is one of the most popular ones out there.
Most NBA players of this generation want to wear the Jordan brand sneakers. But only a selected few can get their dream fulfilled. After all, representing one of the biggest sneaker brands in the world is not everyone’s cup of tea.
Well, Boston Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum is certainly someone who is eligible to sign with the Jordan brand. He left the parent company, Nike, in 2019 and signed a multi-year deal with the Jordan brand.
This meant that Tatum got a chance to meet none other than MJ himself. Recently, Tatum revealed his thoughts on meeting Mike for the first time in an interview.
“It was towards the end of my second year, we was in the playoffs and I was making that transition. You know, to get on Jordan ranting, you gotta get the final say-so got to go through MJ himself. To be on the Jordan brand, he got to personally want you to be over there. So for the greatest player of all time to seek you out and want him to be a part of your brand. And when I finally got to meet him for the first time, it was just like I ain’t like he’s just a real person. Then all the packages, we get all the shoes 10 months in advance.”
Tatum further talked about a Paris trip organized by the brand: “It was cool, MJ was there, Russ, Blake Griffin, Melo, Maya Moore. We was all there together. Spike Lee was there. Everybody was there, and we was there for about a week and we had a great time.”
(starts at 14:24)
Tatum has certainly lived up to expectations since signing with the Jordan brand. He has improved his game and with time will only get better. Although Tatum is getting better, he is yet to carry the Celtics to a good postseason run.
Moreover, so far this season the Celtics are struggling with a record of 13-13 as they hold the 10th seed in the Eastern Conference. Can Tatum and co. turn the season around? Well, they surely have a chance to do so.
