Spring 2017. Jayson Tatum is about to finish his only season at Duke. The doors of the NBA will open to him in the coming weeks, as well as to Markelle Fultz, Lonzo Ball, Josh Jackson and De'Aaron Fox, all expected at the top of the Draft. It is in this context that the future Celtics player, then aged 19, learns news that will turn his life upside down: he is going to become a father.
His reaction ? “ I wasn't overjoyed. I was a little selfish at that point because I knew I was about to chase my dream and get into the NBA. I felt like it was going to impact what people thought of me, where I went in the Draft. “, he confides today.
A preconceived idea because the winger will be selected a little higher than imagined, in third place by the Celtics who ultimately preferred him to Josh Jackson. “ So I'll be the first to say that I wasn't super excited to learn that I was going to be a father, but I quickly realized that it was the best thing that could have happened to me. There's nothing better than being a father », Continues Jayson Tatum, interviewed yesterday, Father's Day.
“ Six-year-old mini-me watches everything I do »
Arriving in the NBA when his son, Jayson “Deuce” Christopher Tatum Jr, was born on December 6, 2017, will allow him to learn “ The sense of responsibilities » earlier than the others. “ Because it's difficult to be 19, to achieve fame and this new fortune. No one can, I think, help you or prepare you for what it's like to be 19 years old and millions of dollars. »
In this case, 5.6 million dollars from his rookie season, or a 1/6th of what he receives today (32.6 million). “ Having Deuce at that age nourished me. Because whatever decision I wanted to make, I had to make sure he was taken care of. I couldn't do everything some of my peers did because I had to go home and put him to bed », he describes.
“ Or for Father's Day weekend I had to leave town or forgo that trip with my friends because it was my weekend with him “, continues Jayson Tatum without giving details about his relationship with the mother of his son, Toriah Mimms.
So no, having a child so young was not a “ sacrifice “. “ It taught me a sense of responsibility, as well as making the right decisions. Knowing that there is a six-year-old mini-me watching everything I do and knowing that I have to be the best version of myself: I have to make the right decisions because he is always watching me », he finishes.
