Jayson Tatum is in the process of trying to win his first career NBA championship.
Regardless of whether his Boston Celtics ultimately succeed or fail this season, clearly the pieces are in place for him to be a title contender for many years to come.
The Los Angeles Lakers, meanwhile, Tatum’s favorite team growing up, couldn’t even make the playoffs this year.
This week, Tatum addressed how much he wanted to play for the Lakers before ultimately getting drafted by the Celtics.
“The Lakers were my favorite team, and Kobe was my favorite player,” Tatum told the media, via ESPN. “So it was crazy that the Lakers had the second pick and I was so close to a dream come true. But it was just like they didn’t want anything to do with me at the time.”
Instead of taking Tatum, the Lakers selected Lonzo Ball out of UCLA. After several mediocre seasons, they packaged him and Brandon Ingram in a deal that netted them Anthony Davis from the New Orleans Pelicans.
Because Tatum was already a far superior player to both Ingram and Ball when that trade took place, had he been a Laker, the front office still likely could have gotten Davis if they wanted to. Only for much cheaper.
And of course there is a good chance Davis wouldn’t have even been necessary, because Tatum turned out to be such a stellar talent.
The Lakers messed up bad by not drafting Tatum. He was born to wear the purple and gold. Instead he wound up a member of the franchise’s biggest rivals.
Yikes. https://t.co/PEfFypPT0p
— Game 7 (@game7__) June 8, 2022
Yikes.
Will Tatum claim his first career title this season?
Time will tell.
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Jennifer Withers Hoey is a former Business Development Manager who transitioned to writing about sports. With valuable connections all over the West Coast, she has used those contacts to break some of the most interesting stories pertaining to the Portland Trail Blazers, Oregon Ducks, LA Lakers, LA Clippers, Seattle Supersonics (RIP), and more.
