NBA superstar Jayson Tatum shared his secrets of basketball championship success with the Illawarra Hawks on the morning they won their fairytale NBL title.
Tatum sent a video message to father and Hawks coach Justin on Sunday as the side prepared to host Melbourne United for the decisive fifth game of the championship series.
The younger Tatum, who helped Boston win last year's NBA title, wanted his father's playing group to acknowledge their emotions ahead of the decider in Wollongong.
"He texted me and he said, 'Pops, send this to your group'," Tatum Sr said after Sunday's 114-104 win, which clinched the series 3-2.
"What it was was a reassurance to my group about what they potentially should feel and how to win a game seven for them (in the NBA), game five for us."
Jayson Tatum's presence has been felt since his father took charge of the Hawks following a dismal 2-7 start to last season.
Ahead of his first full campaign at the helm, Tatum took trips to the USA and France to watch his son in the NBA Finals and Olympics, with the view to taking lessons back to Wollongong.
This time around, Justin Tatum said it was his players who had been "enlightened" to hear from his son.
"They were like, 'Hey, the whole 2023-24 Boston Celtics (team) is about to watch our game right now'," Tatum said.
"If they can do it, we can do it. Hearing from him and having him send that message on his own was unbelievable. It was meaningful to my players as well."
Tatum dedicated the Hawks' second NBL title to captain Sam Froling, who suffered a season-ending achilles tendon injury in game four of the series.
Froling was on the roster for the Hawks' 2019-20 and 2022-23 wooden spoon seasons and had been integral in the side's inspirational rise to heavyweight status across the past two seasons.
"Sam helped us get all the way there," Tatum said.
"He was in the huddle (on Sunday) telling guys to finish, yelling at guys to get after it.
"That's probably the most I've ever heard that man talk. The majority of this was for Sam."
Tatum earlier this week expressed his desire for off-contract Froling to remain at the Hawks even as he prepares to miss a significant portion of next season.
He extended that hope to the remainder of the team that featured on Sunday, all but two of whom played with the Hawks last year as well.
But Tatum acknowledged it mightn't be so simple to keep the band together this time around given the Hawks' success.
"As an admin, we've been talking, as a staff, that's what we want, but you've always got to have Plan B and C," he said.
"But Plan A is for this group to reunite to do our best to keep the core and everybody together.
"These guys love each other outside of basketball. That's so important, otherwise we would not have won nothing."
