Jayson Tatum was a key figure in bringing the championship to Boston. And the Celtics’ front office decided to reward their biggest star. While Jaylen Brown was offered a max contract last season, Tatum has overtaken his teammate with another supermax deal, $314 million for five years. But he took a $1 million pay cut and many are convinced it is to pay homage to St. Louis.
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Originally, Tatum’s supermax contract would’ve clocked out at $315 million. But the Celtics star took $1 million less. As per Shams Charania,
“Boston Celtics All-NBA star Jayson Tatum is finalizing a five-year, $314 million super maximum contract extension through the 2029-30 season. This is now the largest deal in NBA history.”
An X user clarified why Jayson Tatum might’ve taken a pay cut; to represent the place he grew up in, St. Louis. The area code of St. Louis is 314 and he might have taken a $1 million pay cut to represent the place he spent his childhood in.
This is why he took a 1M pay cut 😭😭 https://t.co/s5UyXBolVe pic.twitter.com/sWwIvpsz8p
— j (@lockedupjb) July 1, 2024
Growing up in St. Louis, Tatum has often expressed his love and admiration for the area. He went to school there and probably started dreaming about making it into the NBA while playing basketball in the area. He even went so far as to say that he wanted to open a school in St. Louis while talking to Graham Bensinger.
His love for St. Louis is so massive that Tatum got a $1 million gift from SoFi to help the people of St. Louis buy affordable homes. He was ecstatic to find out how many people he’d be able to help. According to Spectrum, Tatum said,
“I can’t stress enough how excited I am just knowing how many lives and the families that we can impact. And I can only imagine how much this would have impacted myself and my mom growing up.”
He also added, “I always go back to St. Louis as much as I can, as often as I can, especially in the summertime. Just knowing the impact that I can have on my community by being there, by being present.”
Tatum’s love for his hometown oozes out in his swagger. He even has a St. Louis colorway in his signature shoe with the Jordan brand.
