Jayson Tatum is one of the more popular players to wear #0 as his jersey number. Back in 2020, the Celtics star revealed why he chose to wear the number.
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Jayson Tatum is one of the greatest young talents in the league today. Despite being only 24-years-old, the Boston Celtics star has proved that he has what it takes to be a leader on a championship-contending team. There is no doubting his potential or the fact that JT is going to be one of the league’s future faces.
Definitely, the 6-foot-8 forward has millions of youngsters looking up to him as their inspiration and wearing his jersey number because of it. However, for Tatum himself, Wizards legend Gilbert Arenas was the reason why he selected to wear #0 on his kit.
Also Read: JT and JB are the first Celtics players since the Big Three era to achieve this feat
Back in 2020, during quarantine, Tatum had a little Q&A session on his Twitter where he revealed the significance of selecting #0.
“Gilbert Arenas was one of my favorite players and I stuck with it”: Jayson Tatum
During his 4 years at the Chaminade College Preparatory School, JT repped the number #22. Wearing that number, the then-high-school phenom found quite the success he aimed for.
As he enrolled at Duke University, Tatum hoped to continue with the same number. However, the Blue Devils had retired the number for their former point guard Jay Williams.
The then-18-year-old decided to go ahead with #0 as his “favorite player” Gilbert Arenas wore it and ever since the number has stuck with him.
Was 22 in high-school… got to duke @RealJayWilliams wouldn’t let me wear 22 lol…. so I chose 0 cause Gilbert A was one of my favorite players and stuck with it
— Jayson Tatum (@jaytatum0) March 26, 2020
“Agent Zero” was among the many legends who wore the #0 during his playing days. The former Wizards legend finished his career with 3 All-Star appearances and 3 All-NBA selections.
Also Read: Fans wonder what could have been as JT comes out in Kobe’s pre-draft Celtics jersey
So far, Tatum has quite an illustrious career. In 5 campaigns, he’s been selected to 3 All-Star Games, 2 All-NBA Teams, won the 2022 ECF MVP, and is currently battling the Golden State Warriors to help the Celtics franchise win their record 18th NBA title.
Clearly, Tatum has been living up to the legacy.
