Many current NBA stars grew up as huge LeBron James fans. There has always been a long line of kids pursuing LeBron for autographs since the four-time NBA Champion entered the NBA. Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum was also once a kid in that line. However, in 2009, when JT was 11 years old, he couldn’t get an autograph from the King after a brief interaction. This left him in tears.
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Tatum recalled the story while sitting beside LeBron James during the USA Men’s Basketball Team training camp. The 2024 NBA Champion confessed that he had never told this story to LBJ.
After James learned about the incident, he quipped that Tatum avenged his childhood heartbreak by dunking on him in the 2018 Eastern Conference Finals. The Celtics star burst out laughing at LeBron’s joke and hid his face with his hands.
During a break in practice, Tatum revealed that he attended a game between the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers and the Memphis Grizzlies with his mother Brandy Cole in 2009. After the game, Tatum was vying for an autograph from the Cavaliers superstar.
But James left Tatum and other enthusiastic fans high-and-dry. While he didn’t outright refuse signing autographs, the Cavs forward left in a hurry. Thus, an 11-year-old Tatum couldn’t help but burst into tears as he was leaving the arena with his mother. Tatum recalled,
“My mom took me to a game in Memphis. I wanted to meet LeBron and I wanted to get a picture with him and an autograph and there was a lot of people back there and he was like, ”I am out I gotta go.” And I got in the car and started crying.”
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After knowing about this story, James hilariously asked JT, “Is that why you dunked on me in the Conference Finals?” Indeed, Tatum’s dunk is one of the rare moments when James was on the receiving of a poster jam.
When Jayson Tatum posterized LeBron James
During the Game 7 of the 2018 ECF between the Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics, Jayson Tatum did what he probably dreamt of as a kid. Receiving the ball from outside the three-point line, the Celts forward took a couple of dribbles to get past two perimeter defenders.
James saw the hole in the defense and jumped to contest the shot near the rim. However, it was too late as Tatum threw down a big-time dunk on the Cavs superstar.
After finishing the slam, he gave a slight bump to King James while yelling in his face.
However, this huge jam couldn’t stall James from burying the Celts as his Cavs won the ECF series 4-3. This marked his eighth straight appearance in the NBA Finals.
While Tatum couldn’t lift his Celts to a memorable ECF series win, he did provide one of the most iconic moments in NBA history.
