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Jayson Tatum is the cover athlete for Sports Illustrated's 70th anniversary issue

John Karalis on a special Celtics locker room and the team's stability throughout its title run
John Karalis on a special Celtics locker room and the team's stability throughout its title run 04:57

BOSTON -- Jayson Tatum is everywhere this summer. Soon enough, the Celtics superstar will be offering up some "Cheers" in a newsstand near you. 

Fresh off his NBA title with the Boston Celtics, Tatum graces the cover of Sports Illustrated's 70th anniversary issue. The new champ isn't in his Celtics green though, instead sporting a slick striped suit as he does his best Gatsby impression on the cover. 

"Cheers to the winningest team in NBA history," Sports Illustrated posted on X on Thursday.

Celtics fans will certainly drink to that. And they'll enjoy Chris Mannix's write-up on Tatum and the championship Celtics, titled "The Celtics Define Greatness in Any Era." It includes stories Tatum -- from bouncing back from previous postseason failures to his relationship with teammate Jaylen Brown -- and a lot of reflection from Boston legend Bob Cousy.

Tatum once again relishes the fact that he is a champion, and nobody anywhere can take that away from him.

"It's like you have that window of nobody being able to tell you anything," Tatum says. "You are the best team until somebody says otherwise."

It has been quite the summer for Tatum since he and the Celtics won the 18th title in franchise history. In addition to the new SI cover, he is also featured on the cover of NBA 2k25. He is also on the cover of the "Champs" issue of Slam magazine, sharing the honor with Brown.

For a guy who critics have called boring and say lacks an "aura," Tatum is certainly popping up in a lot of places as the face of the NBA.

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