Over the past decade, LeBron James and Stephen Curry have been the quintessential faces of the NBA. No player has been able to match the charisma and aura that the two stars carry. However, Jayson Tatum seems to have cracked the secret recipe the duo has maintained for an extended period. The Celtics star recently revealed how one can become “the next face of the NBA.”
During his appearance on the “7PM In Brooklyn” podcast, Tatum said, “There’s a lot of conversations about who the next [face of the league is], who is the best player, who is gonna replace LeBron James, Kevin Durant and those guys? I want to be known as the next LeBron and [Durant].”
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However, Tatum knows that’s not an easy task. The 26-year-old added, “How do you do that? How do you separate yourself? You win a championship. You win multiple.”
LeBron and Curry have each bagged four championship titles, followed by the scoring beast of their generation, Kevin Durant, with his two titles. Tatum wants to strive for the same numbers in his NBA career. The forward already unlocked a title last year and has a lot of years left in his tank to aim for three more to be the next superstar.
But Tatum’s path of following greatness started a long way back and ended with tears rolling down his face.
LeBron and Tatum are now teammates, but their paths crossed way back. At that time, LeBron was with the Cavs, and Tatum was 11. The Celtics ace recently revealed an anecdote about their first encounter ever.
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In 2009, Jayson Tatum attended a game between the Grizzlies and the Cavs. Larry Hughes, LeBron’s teammate, was Tatum Sr.’s friend, so that allowed the 11-year-old to meet LeBron and ask for an autograph. But a busy LeBron just walked away, leaving Tatum heartbroken, and went to the car crying.
JT revealed the story in a video posted by the NBA. LeBron jokingly asked if that was the reason Tatum dunked on him in the 2018 Easter Conference Finals. For Tatum, it was a moment of revenge as the duo resumed their playful exchange.
Team USA will now head to England for their last set of friendlies. However, on July 28, their real action will begin with the 2024 Paris Olympics.
