Jayson Tatum shared an emotional moment with his son after winning NBA championship
BOSTON -- After checking out of Monday night's championship-clinching win for the Celtics, Jayson Tatum spent a moment to catch his emotions. He was overcome with joy as he was about to become an NBA champ for the first time in his career, and there was one person he wanted to find: His young son, Deuce.
Tatum was reunited with his six-year-old shortly after confetti started to fall from the TD Garden rafters, where a 2024 Boston Celtics NBA Champions banner will soon hang. As Tatum was hunched over, Deuce gave his father a big hug.
Tatum celebrated by lifting Deuce in the air and giving him a giant hug, saying "We did it!"
Tatum and his son are inseparable, and Deuce remained with him on the floor for the rest of the celebration. When Tatum took the podium, he was asked about his emotional exchange with his son.
"He told me that I was the best in the world. I said, 'You're damn right I am,'" said Tatum.
This championship has been seven years in the making for Tatum, who was drafted third overall by the Celtics in 2017. He's developed into a star player, bringing home All-NBA First Team honors in each of the last three seasons, but a title had eluded him until Monday night.
Tatum and the Celtics had always come close, including a trip to the Finals two years ago when Boston lost to the Golden State Warriors. Tatum and his Celtics teammates have spoken about that loss -- and last postseason's loss to the Miami Heat in the East Finals -- as fuel to get them over the hump. It finally paid off Monday night.
"All the sacrifice was worth it. I'm so thankful to have been in the positions that I was growing up. Thankful for my mom. Thankful for my dad introducing me to basketball. My grandmother who helped raise me. All my friends and family that have supported me, every coach, every teammate that I've had," a jubilant Tatum said Monday.
"There's a lot of people that have had a hand in the success of Jayson Tatum. So I guess in this moment, I'm just very thankful for everybody that supported me in the highest of moments and in the lowest of moments. I'm very, very appreciative of that," he added.
"It's a hell of a feeling," Tatum said of being an NBA champ. "I dreamed about what it would be like, but this is 10 times better."
Best of all, he got to share the special moment with his son.
