Jayson Tatum recently took to his own YouTube channel to show off his enormous collection of shoes. In doing so, he spoke about a time when he made a dream come true for himself. And it wasn’t making the NBA or getting a signature shoe of his own.
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Although it does mean a lot to Tatum to have his signature shoe. He’s a sneakerhead through and through, so obviously, it was a massive dream of his to have his shoe line. It’s something Tatum spoke about a few months ago in an interview with Forbes.
“I sound like a broken record, but it’s a dream come true. I remember when I got the phone call from Jordan brand that I was getting my own signature shoe, it’s just like, I always revert back to the moments when I was a kid, having conversations with my mom. Like, ‘Hey mom, one day I’m going to win a championship. One day we’re going to go to Foot Locker and kids will want to buy my shoes.’”
It must feel pretty surreal to make his dream of having a signature shoe come true. After all, it’s the mark of a hallowed athlete from an era of their sport. Furthermore, Tatum deserves it now that he’s an NBA champion and Olympic Gold Medalist.
But within every dream, there’s an even bigger dream. There was always one specific shoe that Tatum wanted to get his hands on as a kid, but couldn’t. The Air Jordan Retro Low 11s, or “Cool Grey 11s” as they were called. And he told the story about how he one day made that dream come true of securing not just one pair, but six.
“I remember I was in eighth grade, the Bred 11s came back out around Christmas. Everybody was losing their mind,” Tatum recalled. “And I liked the Cool Grey 11s, like those were my favorite shoes. But I didn’t get a chance to get them, and I never had a pair. I remember when I signed with Jordan, I was like, ‘Yo, that’s my favorite Jordan of all time, is it cool, like can I get a pair?’ And now I got six pairs.”
The overcompensation is a bit funny, but regardless, it’s an impressive collection from Tatum. He even revealed that he’s never worn his grey Jordan 11s. As they seem to be six personal mementos of his own.
Jayson Tatum’s first time Meeting Jordan
Even though MJ and the Jordan brand were thrilled to welcome Tatum onto the team, the first time the two met didn’t go as planned. The Celtic was invited to an event with the GOAT and arrived early in the hopes of impressing MJ and his wife. But suddenly, disaster struck.
“My hands was sweating, my a** was sweating and sh*t,” Tatum detailed. “So, I get up, and I’m like ‘Yo, Mike, what up?’ And like the wine glass was [next to my hand], and I just boom, knocked it over. And it broke. I was like ‘Oh, sh*t.’ But he was cool about it.”
Jordan eventually told Tatum to go sit back down and that he was alright. Regardless, it’s a funny story that he’ll be able to tell for the rest of his life.
