The interview with Jason Tatum reveals his inspiring journey from childhood dreams to achieving significant milestones in professional basketball. Tatum discusses the emotional weight of an NBA championship, an Olympic gold medal, and securing a substantial contract extension, emphasizing how his passion for basketball and teamwork in Boston have been key to his success. His personal reflections highlight the importance of continuous improvement and resilience in overcoming challenges and setbacks to reach new heights.

Tatum's emphasis on personal development and the role of close-knit teams in achieving success showcases a deep appreciation for the shared journey with his teammates. Further, he credits foundational experiences and support from his family, especially his mother, in shaping his values and competitive spirit. He shares insights into how living the values of hard work and perseverance, along with learning from past losses, can guide one toward ultimate success.

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Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. generational wealth [ˌdʒɛnəˈreɪʃənəl wɛlθ] - (noun) - Wealth that is passed down from one generation to the next. - Synonyms: (family fortune, inherited assets, ancestral wealth)

It is life changing, family changing, generational wealth, money.

2. cohesive [koʊˈhiːsɪv] - (adjective) - Having the parts or elements logically connected and unified. - Synonyms: (unified, interconnected, consistent)

You have this cohesive group that's been together for such a long time.

3. sustaining [səˈsteɪnɪŋ] - (adjective) - Continuing for an extended period or without interruption. - Synonyms: (enduring, persisting, continuing)

But being so close and sustaining such a level of success for so many years.

4. liability [ˌlaɪəˈbɪləti] - (noun) - A thing whose presence or behavior is likely to cause embarrassment or put one at a disadvantage. - Synonyms: (drawback, disadvantage, hindrance)

And a way to do that with these other superstars at the time, when I was only 19, was don’t be a liability on defense.

5. blueprint [ˈbluːprɪnt] - (noun) - A detailed plan or program of action. - Synonyms: (plan, strategy, outline)

Brad is somebody that I'm very thankful for. He was the blueprint of, like, somebody that I Saw every single day.

6. prolific [prəˈlɪfɪk] - (adjective) - Producing in large quantities or with great frequency. - Synonyms: (productive, abundant, copious)

I'm curious, what's your motivation for having such a prolific off the court business?

7. dynasty [ˈdaɪnəsti] - (noun) - A sequence of rulers from the same family or group, noted for maintaining power for a long period. - Synonyms: (lineage, reign, succession)

So how do you approach the future here? And do you. Do you have any concerns in terms of keeping this group around, to extend it into a dynasty?

8. gravitated [ˈɡrævɪteɪtɪd] - (verb) - Moved toward or was attracted to a place, person, or thing. - Synonyms: (inclined, drawn, attracted)

I just gravitated towards basketball every day.

9. concept [ˈkɑːnsept] - (noun) - An abstract idea or a mental symbol - Synonyms: (idea, notion, perception)

The concept of like, that, like is, is incredible to me.

10. elevated [ˈɛləˌveɪtɪd] - (verb) - Raised to a higher level or position. - Synonyms: (uplifted, enhanced, boosted)

I can't stress enough getting Jrue Holiday and kp, what that did for our team, how much that elevated our team.

How Jayson Tatum Built His Multimillion-Dollar Brand On And Off The Court

Even if there's only one person that I can impact that is looking up to me in the sense of, like, man, he is inspiring me to chase my dream and help change the world. I'll be okay with that.

Jason, thanks for being here with us today. Appreciate you. You've had an incredible year. NBA championship, Olympic gold medal. What goes through your mind when you reflect on that, honestly, for me is those moments are far and few between where you have the opportunity to reflect.

I feel like in this business, in this world, it's always like, what's next? What are you doing next? While I'm very thankful and proud of the things that we were able to accomplish and myself recently, we just started practice yesterday, so it's like, you got to get ready for the next season. For sure. For sure.

And also, I should add that you added a massive contract extension. You secure your financial future. What was the process of that like, coming together? I'm thankful. It was an easy process. It was a mutual interest on both sides, and for me, it was more about being wanted. It is life changing, family-changing, generational wealth money. But for me, it's like, I love what I do. I love to play basketball. I love being in Boston. And I was glad that they wanted me here for another five years.

This has been a very competitive group for a long time. Obviously, you've been to the finals before, but this year you achieved the ultimate goal. I'm curious, you know, you've shouldered a lot of those expectations. So what was it like finally achieving that and getting to the mountaintop?

It was a dream come true. This past seven years in Boston, you understand the only thing here that matters is winning championships. We had 17 banners prior to that, and we had a blank one ready for number 18. And being to the conference finals five times and, you know, two years ago, losing in the finals, it was devastating. It was tough. But being so close and sustaining such a level of success for so many years, I believed that we were going to do it. I believed our time was coming soon.

And in that moment, sharing it with your teammates, your family, your fans who have been on that ride with you through the ups and downs and the highest and toughest moments, that moment was one I'll never forget. And then the parade was the best two hours of my life, probably. I can imagine. I can imagine.

So what allowed you to take the next step? Was it, you know, improvements physically, mentally? Where. Where. What allowed it? I think you just get better over time. I'm only 26 years old, and I feel Like, I'm older. People might think that I'm older than what I am, but I came into the league at 19, and you have to, you know, learn certain things. You don't know what you don't know. It's a process. You have to. Your body has to mature. Your mental has to as well.

You have to go through certain things. And I didn't understand that when we lost in the finals two years ago, I was frustrated. I was devastated. But once you won, once we won the championship, I understood that we had to go through those things. We had to take our losses and learn from them so that when we got back to this moment, we knew what it would take.

You know, in Boston, something really unique is you have this cohesive group that's been together for such a long time, and I think that's rare in today's NBA. So how much of having these same guys around you year in, year out has played into your success? Yeah, having a core group has been a blessing.

Right. We've been through so much together. But I can't stress enough getting Jrue Holiday and kp, what that did for our team, how much that elevated our team. I say it all the time. Everybody was in a perfect moment in their career. Guys have gotten their contracts, had individual success, and we all came together and sacrificed certain parts of our game so that we would be the best team and that it would give us the best chance to win a championship. Yeah, I think that's extremely well said.

When you think about the future, obviously a lot of you guys have been rewarded with new contracts and stuff. It's hard to keep a group like that together. So how do you approach the future here? And do you. Do you have any concerns in terms of keeping this group around, to extend it into a dynasty? For me, it's all about staying in the moment, understanding that you have a window. And when you're in that window, you, like, you can feel it.

And we know that however long we're together, one, two, five more years, that this is our time. And we don't. We shouldn't take it for granted. We can't skip steps, and we should maximize this opportunity. And we're all on the same page. We got more than anything besides, like, great basketball players. We got great people on this team and in this organization that everybody from the top down contributes to us hanging that banner.

All-star, all NBA champion, gold medal, specifically on the court, what do you still want to accomplish? Ah, man, I want to continue to keep getting better as a kid. I was very motivated, right to. I set a bunch of goals for myself and I've been blessed in real time to slowly be able to check off certain boxes that I wanted to accomplish. I want to win MVP one day. I want to win more championships. I want to be Finals mvp. Those are at the top of the list of the things I still want to accomplish.

You know, when you consider those and obviously in the past you've spoken about being the face of the NBA. Is that the blueprint to get there? How do you, how do you see yourself achieving that goal, being the face of the NBA? That's not. That's like an opinion type of thing, right? You ask 10 different people, you might get 10 different answers on who's the next face of the NBA.

You put yourself in that conversation, people see you in that light. How you carry yourself, the way you present yourself in certain situations, the things that you're involved in off the court in a positive way, obviously. And your style of play, how you connect with the fans, how you dominate the game, and winning championships, for sure help.

Speaking of face of the NBA, you know, you have spoken at length about your relationship with another face, Kobe Bryant. And I'm curious, kind of as you go forward, what do you model after him? Being relentless. Right. Kobe didn't stop at being satisfied with one championship or two or three. Right. He ended up winning five.

And he did everything in his power. He didn't have any regrets when he left. That's what I admire about him the most. He literally gave everything that he had to the game of basketball. He maximized his God given ability to the nth degree. And, you know, you got to respect somebody like that.

Growing up in St. Louis, raised by a single mother. Tell me about childhood and the role your mom played in success. My mom played the biggest role in my success. She's my best friend to this day. Self-proclaimed mama's boy. My mom is my superhero. Right? She sacrificed everything to give her son opportunities to go chase his dream. She was the hardest working person that I knew.

She never made any excuses. She gave me unconditional love. But she was the toughest person on me. She never, she kept me out of trouble. She made sure that my head was on my shoulders. I was always going in the right direction. I always did well in school. She, you know, is the sole reason why I'm the man that I am today.

It sounds like when you reflect on that, it was a little bit of a struggle getting through those times. Is that kind of the accurate way to describe it. Yeah. You know, my mom was 19 when she had me. She was still a kid who just had a kid. And she was a freshman in college, and she was trying to make ends meet. Right. Lived check to check our whole life. Growing up, was almost evicted out of our house.

You know, had to borrow food from our neighbors so I could eat. And a lot of times she didn't. Right. She just made sure I had something to eat. But, you know, going through tough times made our bond closer. I never was mad at my mom. I never was angry at her. You know, it was us against the world.

So who had the brilliant idea to put a basketball in your hands? And what was your wow, I'm really good moment? What a brilliant idea. So my dad played basketball at Saint Louis University. He played overseas, so he'll get the credit for putting the ball in my hand and being my early coach and trainer and things like that.

But nobody, like, ever had to force me to go to practice, force me to work out. I just gravitated towards basketball every day. I didn't. I would rather play basketball at the park than go swimming with my friends or go to Six Flags or go to the carnival at school during recess. I always wanted to play basketball. Like, I just. It was a genuine, like, love energy between me and the game from as early as I can remember.

How old were you when you knew, like, okay, I'm. I'm better than a lot of the kids I'm playing with. This might be something than the kids I was playing with second grade, maybe things just came natural to me and things that I didn't understand, like my teammates or friends, like, they weren't able to do. The game of basketball just came very.

Like, I could see something one time and like, oh, that makes sense, or I know why they did that, or I can go work on that. And I was. I was. Grew up in a basketball family. My dad, my cousins, my uncles. Like, everybody played basketball at some level, and I was always around it.

Bradley Beal went to your high school. You've spoken before about looking up to him. I'm just curious, you know, seeing him accomplish what he did before you got to it, you know, what was that like for you being a teenager? Yeah. So Brad was in a senior when I was in seventh grade. Our high school and middle school was connected.

He took me home every day his senior high school, because we live three minutes away from each other. Brad is somebody that I'm very thankful for. He was the blueprint of, like, somebody that I Saw every single day what it was like to be a student athlete, what it was like to be a role model, what it was like to work hard, what it was like to, you know, he played in a McDonald's All-American game, the Jordan Brand Classic game.

He played at the University of Florida. He won Gatorade national player of the Year, and they came and presented him the trophy at our school. And, like, I was seeing all of these things in real time, and I would always ask questions. I was seeing how he went about everything. He went to school for one year and then went to the NBA, and we've been like this ever since. And it was just like, all right, I see where.

What it takes. That's what I'm going to do. And I just followed essentially everything that he did as I went through high school. You have another famous school connection in Matthew Kachuk, who also got his first championship. I'm curious, what's the friendship with Matt been like in your life? It's been cool. Me and Matt went to school from 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th grade.

I don't claim to be, like, a hockey expert, but I know at some point he left our high school and went to go, like, play professionally or something like that. Whatever the progress is to go to the NHL, he did that. But we had many classes together. We had. We worked on, like, projects together, and we had gym class together.

I knew his dad played in the NHL, and I knew that he was, you know, aspiring to be a professional athlete as well. And, you know, great kid, great family. And it was just cool that in the same year, we both won a championship in our respective sports. Obviously, you weren't the last group, but one of the last groups to play for Coach K at Duke. I'm curious what, you know, such a legendary coach in a university like Duke impacted your life and did for your career?

Yeah, that was a. You know, choosing a school is a big decision at 18. Well, I guess I was 17 when I chose that. I was going there, and it's one of the best choices I. I could have made. Going to a program like that really prepared me for being in the spotlight, coming to the Celtics, right?

Like the best franchise in NBA and arguably the big. The best program in college basketball. We were always on tv. There was always expectations. It just prepared you for the next level. Coach K is somebody. I'm still very close with that. You know, I. I really felt that he cared about me as a person and really wanted to help me accomplish my dreams.

And then finally, like, a Lot of. One of my best friends I met at college and works now with the Celtics as one of the coaches. John Shire, somebody I talk to every week, like, and then, you know, the brotherhood is real. Everybody that walked through that program, whether I played with them or they were there 20 years before me, Whenever you see somebody that played for a Duke, like, it's always love.

Flash forward to 2017. You go third overall in the draft. As a competitive guy, I'm sure, you know, you don't want to see people go ahead of you, but we can't deny how well it worked out that you arrived in Boston. So, you know, when you think back to that moment versus now, what kind of goes through your head about how the situation worked out? Yeah, that was a process. Early in the draft process, I thought I was the best player.

I was like, I want to go number one. Throughout the process, I realized that it was unlikely that I was going to be the number one pick. You know, that Markell Folts and Lozo Ball were kind of penciled in at 1 and 2. And the closer it got to the draft, I didn't care where I went. I was just like, man, I can smell that my dream is about to come true. I just want to hear my name called.

I didn't. And even that night, I didn't know where I was going. I just was ready to hear my name called. And that was like, the single best moment of my life. It's just something that as early as I can remember, I was four years old. I knew I wanted to be in the NBA, and I worked towards that goal for 14, 15 years. And to hear your name called with your mom and your family being there, it's like the weight of the world was lifted off my shoulders.

It was the ultimate. Like, we did it, we accomplished it, and it's been great ever since. So when you entered the league, you know, you were a very natural scorer, but obviously, defense in the NBA is a very much an acquired skill. Did you have to work extra hard to become the defender you are today? You know, one of the best in the league, or was that something that came natural? So our team was very talented when I got drafted.

Traditionally, when you go in a lottery or top three pick, you go to a team that is rebuilding or isn't that good? You know, the Celtics were number one seed in the east the year before. As soon as I get drafted, we get Gordon Hayward, we get Kyrie Irving. So now I'm trying to figure out, how do I fit in Am I going to play? And I realized very early in training camp that if I want to get on the floor, I have to learn.

Like, I have to be a really good defender. And that's really, really where it came from. Like, I want to play, I want to be in the game. And a way to do that with these other superstars at the time, when I was only 19, was don't be a liability on defense. And I figured it out quickly.

A couple years ago you said your mom didn't let you spend your MBA money. And I'm curious, is that still the case? Are you still saving that side of your money? Yeah, that's still like 95% true. I've used some of that money I purchase houses for like myself, my mom, my grandma, and things like that. But yeah, I get like everybody else, I get paid every two weeks and I have a savings account and I use that to invest and things like that. And that still holds true. I don't live off my NBA check.

Is there any specific way you invested all those savings that have kind of come back to help you since then? Yeah, and it's really grown for me in the last few years, I would say, because I didn't invest my first four years mainly because I never learned about investing as a kid. Like me and my mom, she didn't have a savings account.

We had nobody to teach us how to make your money work for yourself and things like that. And I've been very grateful and privileged to find partners and find things that I'm interested in and that are organic to me, that and companies that I've been able to invest in.

So you have a very robust portfolio of sponsors. And, you know, that takes a lot when you're a professional athlete and have a very busy schedule. And many athletes, frankly, they don't want to deal with that kind of stuff. So I'm curious, what's your motivation for having such a prolific off the court business?

It came when I was a rookie, when I was finding my agent, Jeff Wexler down in Miami. It came from me and my mom talking about like, yo, we're going to live off your endorsements and, you know, save your NBA checks. And I had an idea of what kind of lifestyle I wanted to live. And I like nice things. So I was like, well, we need to get to work.

And I remember meeting with my agent, I was like, and at the time he had Kyrie Irving and that was it. Like, he didn't have a big group of people. I grew up only Child. So naturally, I kind of like having a lot of attention and demanding at some time. So really just talked to my agent, like, yo, I want to do all the things.

I want to be the face. I want to be on the COVID of 2K one day. I want to be on commercials and cereal boxes and chips and all those things. And so really, you know, it's a testament of to my agent and my marketing team and, you know, the work that I've been able to do on the court to make those things come true.

So your agent calls you up. He says, I've got this deal for you. What are you looking for in a potential brand partner? So there was a point where I was like, I just want to do anything. Whoever calls, like, we doing it, like, whatever. And now there has to. It has to be, like, something.

I want to do something that is organic. I like working, like, with good partners and good brands and good people that want to help things that I'm doing. I want to be involved with the Jason Tatum foundation, want to help the community where I'm from. So it is very more. It's much more like detailed conversations now, and I ask way more questions and things like that than I used to when, you know, early in my career.

So the signature shoe is, like, the gold standard of athlete marketing. And, you know, The Jordan Tatum 3 just announced. You know, I like the kicks you got on there. What does that mean to you? I mean, we talk about, you know, you dreamed of this, and the signature shoe has to be a key piece of that. It sounds like I sound like a broken record, but it's like, man, it's a dream come true.

I remember when I got the phone call from Jordan Brand that I was getting my own signature shoe. It's just like, I always revert back to the moments when I was a kid of, like, man, having conversations with my mom. Like, mom, like, one day I'm gonna win a championship. One day, like, we're gonna go to Foot Locker, and kids gonna want to buy my shoe.

And that's what, like, keeps me going. Like, I remember those moments as a kid. It's why I never take things for granted. That's why I enjoy being in the design process with the design of the shoe, working with a team, designing all the colorways, trying to tell stories through the shoe. And the best part is seeing it come to life.

You're also a founder, obviously. You know, you started small wins the candy company. I'm curious if you could take me through the origin story of that. Yeah. Shout out to my partner, Tony. He used to work at Nike, so I knew him a little bit. He left Nike and he called me one day and came up with this idea that he was starting a candy company and he wanted to partner with me and kind of me be the face of it with my relationship with Deuce.

And it was all about starting like a healthier, better for you option for kids. Right. Plant based gummies, things that you may not have thought about before you had children. And the way that diet and nutrition is transitioning that it was a no brainer for me. Right. It was something that, yeah. I love being a father. I love doing things for my son.

I want to give him healthier and better options. And it's been super cool to see it gain traction and come to life. And how we're going to have small wins bags at TD Garden and, and the game and they're on Amazon. You can go into Walmart and grab them. That has been a different process than like, you know, I'm used to dealing with shoes and things like that, but starting a candy company has been fun.

You think about everything together. What do you want your legacy to be? I want people to be inspired. I always revert back to like, Kobe was my favorite player. Los Angeles to St. Louis is, I don't know, 2,000 miles away. Whatever it is. Somebody that I never met, I only saw on TV and interviews from a distance inspired me to chase a dream, work as hard as I did, sacrifice, you know, a lot of things as a kid growing up to make it to where I am today. I.

The concept of like, that, like is, is incredible to me and I know the impact that it had. And for me it's like, man, this is what I'm doing it for. Like, I'm busting my butt every day to be the best version of me that I can. And it's all about inspiring the next generation.

I hope that even if it's only one person that I can impact in that same way that is looking up to me in the sense of like, man, he is inspiring me to chase my dream and, and, and help change the world and give back and change his community. You know, I'll be okay with that.

Jason, thank you for the time today. No, no, thank you. Sa.

INSPIRATION, LEADERSHIP, MOTIVATION, PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL, CAREER DEVELOPMENT, TEAM DYNAMICS, FORBES