Jayson Tatum may not seem like it, but he in fact one of the most superstitious players in the league. In fact, he even once believed his hair was cursed.
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The Celtics star is gearing up for the game of his career right now. The Celtics and Heat have played out long, and challenging series against each other which will finally reach its end tonight in a decisive game seven.
Boston had a chance to ice the series in game six at home, but Jimmy Butler chose to erupt, going off for 47 points in the eliminator. However, with the way this series has gone, there’s no prediction of who has the upper hand going into game seven.
Both teams have won games on the road and both teams have players who can dominate on any given day. Jayson Tatum will look to be that player for Boston tonight, looking to reach his first ever Finals in a young career. The Celtics have been to the Conference Finals multiple times before, the most recent time in 2020 against the Heat no less, but they’ve never been able to make it over the hump.
Jayson Tatum once thought his hair was cursed
Those 2020 playoffs were a weird time for the NBA. The Covid-19 pandemic was in full swing back then, and the NBA had resorted to playing in a bubble in Orlando.
Players weren’t exactly in their optimal conditions, and there were definitely some strange things going down in the bubble. Jimmy Butler started his own coffee shop during the playoffs where he was serving coffee for $20 a cup.
Tatum’s family felt like the star needed a haircut, and so the Celtics star went out and got one. However, the haircut didn’t look exactly as Tatum had planned. People even said that he looked like a mix of James Harden and Trae Young with his new hair.
The very next game, Tatum would have the worst performance of his career. The Celtics were matched up agains the Bucks in one of the final regular season games, and Tatum shot a disappointing 2/18 for just five points in a 119-112 loss.
Tatum swore it was the haircut, and he made sure to get it fixed the very next day. The next game, Tatum would go off for 34 points in a 128-124 victory against the Portland Trailblazers.
It’s pretty funny to look back on now, and it’s even funnier to consider that it was Jayson Tatum out of all people who felt this way. Hopefully for Tatum, his hair can carry him to another dominant performance in tonight’s game.
