Celtic Pride Identity

The Anomaly: Celtics star, champion, and record-setter.

Jayson Christopher Tatum Sr. (born March 3, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was a McDonald's All-American in high school in Missouri and played college basketball for the Duke Blue Devils. Tatum was selected by the Boston Celtics with the third overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft and was voted to the NBA All-Rookie First Team in the 2018 season. Tatum won the inaugural NBA Eastern Conference finals MVP in 2022, and won his first title in the 2024 NBA Finals.

Quick Facts

Championship count: 1 (2024)
Defining duo: Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown (2017–present)

Lore & Background

Nicknamed 'the Anomaly', Tatum is a six-time NBA All-Star and five-time All-NBA selection (including four first-team selections). He and Jaylen Brown made up the Celtics' 'Jays' duo from Tatum’s rookie season until 2026. In 2024, Tatum led the team to a league-best 64 wins and a championship in the NBA Finals. Tatum also won a gold medal with the 2020 U.S. Olympic team. He holds the records for most points scored in an NBA All-Star Game (55), most points scored in a Game 7 of any NBA playoffs series (51), and most points scored in the NBA playoffs at his age.

Reader's Guide

Tatum attended Chaminade College Preparatory School in Creve Coeur, Missouri. He was inspired by Bradley Beal, a senior at Chaminade, while Tatum was in his first year there as a seventh grader. Tatum struggled with the school's college preparatory curriculum, and his classmates were substantially more privileged than he was. Tatum played alongside Tyler Cook and was in gym class with classmate Matthew Tkachuk.

Tatum wanted to play under his father, the head basketball coach at nearby Christian Brothers College High School, but his mother preferred Chaminade so Tatum would still work hard on academics. As a freshman, Tatum averaged 13.3 points and 6.4 rebounds per game and was named 2013 Metro Catholic Conference (MCC) Co-Player of the Year. As a sophomore in 2014, Tatum averaged 26.0 points and 11.0 rebounds per game. As a junior, Tatum averaged 25.9 points, 11.7 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game, while earning Second-team Naismith Trophy All-American honors.

In the summer of 2015, he joined the St. Louis Eagles AAU team on the Nike EYBL Circuit. Before his senior year, Tatum made a verbal commitment to Duke University over North Carolina, Kentucky, and Saint Louis University. As a senior in 2015–16, Tatum averaged 29.6 points and 9.1 rebounds and posted six 40-point games while leading Chaminade to its second Missouri Class 5A state championship. Tatum was selected to the 2016 McDonald's All-American Game, leading the East Team in scoring with 18 points and grabbing eight rebounds.

He was named the 2016 Gatorade National Player of the Year. Tatum was rated a five-star recruit and was ranked as the No. 3 overall recruit behind Harry Giles and Josh Jackson and No. 2 small forward in the 2016 high school class. In college, Tatum missed the first eight games of the 2016–17 season due to a foot injury. In his freshman season for Duke, Tatum played 29 games and averaged 16.8 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.3 steals per game.

He was named to the ACC All-Freshman team and a third-team All-ACC selection. At the end of his freshman season, Tatum opted to enter the 2017 NBA draft as a one-and-done. Boston Celtics general manager Danny Ainge traded the team's No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft to the Philadelphia 76ers for the third overall pick, which the Celtics used to select Jayson Tatum.