If Jayson Tatum had a villain origin story, it might have started decades ago during a formative moment with NBA legend LeBron James in which the then-Cleveland Cavaliers star ruthlessly rejected his request for an autograph.
Or so Tatum says.
Tatum silenced his doubters this past season as he helped the Boston Celtics end a 16-year title drought and clinch his first and the franchise’s historic 18th NBA championship. But one moment still arguably haunts the 11-year-old inside Tatum who was rebuffed by James all those years ago.
“[LeBron] ain’t tell me no but, he kinda told me no,” Tatum said. “In Memphis a long time ago, Larry Hughes was my dad’s best friend, they played on the Cavs together. My mom took me to a game in Memphis, I wanted to meet LeBron, and I wanted to get a picture with him and an autograph. There were a lot of people back there, and he was like, ‘I’m out, I gotta go.’ And I got in the car and started crying.”
JT got his revenge on LeBron 😂 #USABMNT pic.twitter.com/9shcJ87uaM
— NBA (@NBA) July 16, 2024
“But we cool now,” Tatum added with a wry smile, perhaps reminiscing on how he dunked on James during Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals in 2018.
Tatum, James, and the rest of the United States men’s Olympic basketball team will open the Paris games against Serbia on July 28.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Jayson Tatum Told Priceless Story of LeBron James Turning Down His Autograph Request.
