“I belonged with LeBron James and Anthony Davis in that locker room”: Jayson Tatum on his first All-Star appearance, realizing he had arrived

Jayson Tatum reveals the moment when he felt he had arrived. The Celtics forward put up a spectacle at the TD Garden last night against arch-rivals LA Lakers.

The Boston Celtics have had a rocky start to the season and are currently 8-8. The team made several changes to their roster this off-season. One of them was trading Kemba Walker for Al Horford and Moses Brown. The Celtics also signed point guard Dennis Schroder.

However, there is no shortage of talent on the roster, having the likes of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. The two All-Stars are the backbone of the Celtics team. Recently, the Celtics hosted the Lakers that had LeBron James make his return after missing 8-games.

Tatum led the Celtics to a victory over the purple and gold team, beating them 130-108. The 23-year old torched a 37-point double-double on a 50.0% shooting from the field and 44.4% from the 3-point line.

Also read: “LeBron James has reinvented his game much like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant”: Paul Pierce compliments Lakers superstar for a crazy postup fadeaway jumper in loss to Jayson Tatum and co

Recently, Tatum revealed when he started to believe in him being the best player on the floor. The story has a LeBron James connection.

Jayson Tatum talks about his first All-Star appearance.

A student of the mamba mentality, Tatum has the potential to be a superstar in the league. The Celtics forward is the only player in franchise history to have a 60-point performance apart from Larry Bird.

His performance against the Nets in the 2021 playoffs was noteworthy. Tatum averaged 30.6 PPG against the superstar duo of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Tatum earned the highest praise from KD, who called it an honor to play against the former.

Recently, Tatum shared his memories from his first All-Star appearance, sharing the locker-room with the superstar duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis. It was a surreal moment for the former Duke University player.

Jayson Tatum says when he made his first All-Star team and was sharing the locker room with LeBron and AD, it was the “first time I felt I belonged in that room.”

“From now on, whether anybody else believes it, when I get on the floor, I tell myself I’m the best player.”

— Jared Weiss (@JaredWeissNBA) November 20, 2021

In his five seasons so far, Tatum has averaged 19.7 PPG and 6.4 RPG, shooting 45.3% from the field and 39.1% from the 3-point line. The Celtics star has had four games with 50+ points so far in his career.

Also read: “Jayson Tatum had his best game this season”: Kendrick Perkins lauds the Celtics for their blowout victory over LeBron James and the Lakers, calling it their “best win of the season”

Tatum’s body of work earned him a five-year $163M deal with the Boston Celtics.