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 [Music] 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 um I feel like in this business in this world it's

always like what's next what what are you doing next while I'm very thankful and and and proud of the things that um we were able to accomplish and you know myself recently uh you know 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 I should add that you added you know a massive contract extension you secure your financial future what was the process of that like coming together I'm thankful it was a it was an easy process um there was mutual

interest on both sides and for me it was more about um being wanted um it is lifechanging fa family changing generational wealth money uh but for me it's like I love what I do I love the play basketball I love being in Boston um and I was glad that they wanted me here for another 5 years this has been a very competitive group for a long time obviously you've been to the finals before but this year you you achiev the ultimate goal I'm curious you know You' shouldered a lot of those expectations so what was

it like finally achieving that and getting to the mountain top uh was a dream come true the past seven years in Boston uh you understand the only thing here that matters is winning championships we had 17 banners prior to that and uh we had a blank one um 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 um I believe that we were going

to do it I believe our time was coming soon um and in that moment sharing it with your teammates um your family your your fans who have been on that ride with you through the ups and downs and um the highest and toughest moments that moment was uh one I'll never forget and then the 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 uh was it you know improvements physically mentally where where what allowed it uh I think you

just get better over time uh 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 to you know learn certain things you don't know what you don't know it's a process um you have to your body has to mature you your your mental has to as well um you have to go through certain things um and I didn't understand that when we lost in the finals two years ago I I was frustrated I

was devastated um but once you won once we won the championship um I understood that we had to go through those things we we had to take our losses and 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 and year out has played into your success yeah having

a core group has has been uh a blessing right we've been through so much together uh but I can't stress enough getting Drew holiday and and and KP with 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 um and we all came together and sacrific um 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 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 a group like that together so how do you approach the future here and do you have any concerns in terms of keeping this group around to extend it into a dynasty for me it's all about standing a moment understanding that you have a window and when you're in that window you like you can feel it and we know that um 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 ma Maxim this opportunity and we're all on the same page we got more than anything besides like great basketball players we got great people um on this team and in this organization that everybody from the top down contributes to us hanging that Banner Allstar all NBA champion gold medal specifically on the court what do you still want to accomplish H man I I want to continue to keep getting better um as

a kid I was very motivated right to I set a bunch of goals for myself um 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 uh 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 how do you how do you see yourself achieving that goal being the face of the NBA uh that's not that's like a uh opinion type of thing right uh you ask 10 different people you might get 10 different answers on who's the next face of the NBA um you put yourself in that conversation people see you in that light um how you carry yourself um the way you present yourself and in in certain situations the things that you're involved in off the court in a positive way obviously and in um your style of

play how you connect with the fans how you dominate the game uh 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 uh being relentless right Kobe didn't stop at being satisfied with one Championship or two or three right he he end up winning five and he did everything in his power like 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 giv ability to the m degree um 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 uh my best friend to this day uh self-proclaimed mama's boy uh my mom is my super hero right she sacrificed everything to give her son opportunities to go chase this dream she

was the hardest working person that I knew she never made any excuses um she gave me unconditional love but she was the toughest person on me she never uh 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 well in school um she you know the sole reason why um I'm the man that I am today it sounds like um when you reflect on that it was a little bit of a struggle getting through through those times is

that kind of the accurate way to describe it yeah uh you know my mom was 19 when she had me she was still a kid who who just had a kid and um she was a freshman in college and she was trying to make hands meet right live check to check our whole life growing up um was almost evicted out of our house um you know had to borrow food from our neighbors so I could eat and um 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 uh 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 sing St Louis University he played overseas uh so he'll get the credit for putting the ball in my hand and being my early coach and trainer and things like that uh 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 and go to Six Flags or um go to the carnival um at school during recess I always wanted to play basketball um 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 uh than the kids I was playing with second grade maybe uh things just came natural to me and uh things that I didn't understand like my teammate or friends like they weren't able to do um 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 um and I was I was grew up in a basketball family my my dad um my cousins my uncles like everybody played basketball um

at some level and I was always around it Bradley beill went to your high school um 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 y he took me home every day his senior high school cuz we live three minutes away from each other Brad is uh is somebody that I'm

very thankful for he was the blueprint of like somebody 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 mcdown 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 um 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 uh and it was just like all right I see what it takes that's what I'm going to do and I just followed essentially everything that he did um as I went through high school you have another famous School Connection in uh Matthew kachuck uh who also got his first championship I'm curious what's the friendship with Matt been like in your life uh it's been cool

me and Matt went to school from 7th 8th 9th and 10th grade uh 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 NHL he did that um 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 uh and you know great kid great family uh and it 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 uh well I guess I was 17 when I chose that I was going

there um and it's one of the best choices I I could have made uh going to a program like that really prepared me for being in the spotlight coming to the Celtics right like the best franchise in the NBA and arguably the big the best program in college basketball uh we were always on TV there was always expectations um it just prepared you for the next level um Coach K is somebody I'm still very close with that uh 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 shy or 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 uh you go third overall in the drafts 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 there was a process um early in the draft process I thought I was the best player I was like I want to go number one uh throughout the process I realized that it was unlikely that I was going to be the number one pick you know

that Marquel folz and lozo ball were kind of piss with that and at one and two um 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 that 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 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 they 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 uh 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 uh 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 we 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 seen the East the year before 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 um and that's where 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 uh and I figured it out quickly a couple years ago you said your mom didn't let you spend

your NBA money and I'm curious is that still the case are you still saving that that side of your money yeah uh that's still like 95% true I've you know used some of that money I purchased houses um for like myself my mom my grandma um and things like that but yeah um 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 um and that still always true um 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 um and it's really grown for me in in the last few years would say um cuz I didn't I didn't invest my first four years uh 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 you know yourself and um things like that and I've been very grateful and and and privileged to um find partners

and find things that U 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- thee Court business uh it it came when I was a a rookie when I was finding my agent um Jeff wler down

in Miami uh me it was 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 what kind of Lifestyle I wanted to live and I like nice things um 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 uh and that was it like he didn't have a big group of people um I grew up only child so

naturally I kind of like uh having a lot of attention and um demanding at some time so really just talk to my agent like yo I I want to do all the things I want to be the face I want to be on the cover of 2K one day I want to be on commercials and cereal boxes and chips and um 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 uh 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 wouldn't do anything whoever calls like we doing it like whatever and now um there has to it has to be like something I want to do um something that is organic um I like working like with good partners and good brands and good people that want to help things that I'm doing want to be involved with the Jason

Tor Foundation want to help help the community where I'm from uh so it is it's very more it's much more like uh detailed conversations now when I ask way more questions and um things like that than I used to when you know early in my career so the signature shoot is like the gold standard of athlete marketing and you know the Jordan Tatum 3 just announced um you know I like the kicks you got on there um 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 uh 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 a conversation with my mom like Mom like one day I'mma win a championship one day like we going to go to Foot Locker and kids going to Wi buy my shoe um

and that's what like keeps me going like I remember those moments as a kid um is 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 the team um 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 winds the candy company I'm curious if you take me through the origin story of that yeah uh shout out to my partner Tony uh

he used to work at Nike so I I knew knew him a little bit he left Nike and he called me one day and came up with this idea that uh he was starting a candy company and he wanted to partner with me and kind of me be the face of it um with my relationship with deuce and it was all about starting like a healthier better for you option for kids right plant-based gummies uh things that you may not have thought about before you had children uh and the way that diet and nutrition is

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

like that but yeah I'm starting any company has been fun you think about everything together what do you want your legacy to be I want people to be inspired um 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 in interviews uh from a distance inspired me to chase the dream work as hard as I did sacrifice um you know a lot of things as a kid growing up to make

it to where I am today like the concept of like that like is is incredible to meet 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 and iring the Next Generation I hope that even if there's only one person that I can impact in that same way uh 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 uh you know I'll be okay with it Jason thank you for the time today no no thank you [Music]