Childhood buddies Jayson Tatum and Matthew Tkachuk both won titles this year
BOSTON -- Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum won his first NBA championship last Monday night. A week later, his childhood friend Matthew Tkachuk did the same when the Florida Panthers took home the Stanley Cup.
Tatum and Tkachuk were buddies during their time at Chaminade College Preparatory School in St. Louis, and the school's community has to be feeling pretty good after producing champs in both the NBA and NHL this year. While Tatum and his Boston Celtics have been celebrating their title for a week, Tkachuk and his Panthers are just getting started after winning a thrilling Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday night.
After Florida's Cup-clinching victory, Tkachuk made sure to give St. Louis a shoutout while referencing Tatum's title with Boston.
"Two champs from St. Louis, are you kidding me right now?" he said on the ice. "Chaminade, everybody there. All the teachers, classmates, you guys should be very proud."
Before they were stars of their respective leagues, Tatum and Tkachuk were just a couple of high school kids doing high school things in St. Louis. (In addition to being high school sports stars, of course.) Tkachuk even made appearances in videos that Tatum made for his homework.
Now both are champions at the highest level of their respective sports.
Tatum struggled with his shot during the NBA Finals, but led the Celtics by averaging 25 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 6.3 assists per game to go along with some stellar defense against the Dallas Mavericks.
Tkachuk only had a goal and two assists in the Stanley Cup Final against Edmonton, but led the Panthers with 16 assists in the playoffs.
