Jayson Tatum to Bradley Beal: ‘Without you, it wouldn’t be me’

The two are both from St. Louis and attended the same high school, though not at the same time. Still, Tatum played for Beal’s AAU team, and they grew up in the same neighborhood. Tatum called Beal a “perfect role model” earlier this year, per Bijan Todd of NBC Sports, and sent the Wizards guard a heartfelt message this week that Beal received during a sit-down interview with Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks. “Without you, it wouldn’t be me,” Tatum can be heard saying. “You don’t get enough credit, but I’m always giving you the credit … my big brother, man, I appreciate you. You know it’s all love.”
Source: Nick Selbe @ Sports Illustrated

What’s the buzz on Twitter?

Neil Dalal @NeilDalal96
Bradley Beal in an interview with Taylor Rooks
“You’re going to have people rooting for you, saying go, people saying stay, people say take less, people saying all type of stuff. All those things are options.”
Interesting to say he would consider <$248 million even if unlikely. – 10:35 PM

Todd Whitehead @CrumpledJumper
Jayson Tatum has created 45% of Boston’s points in the NBA Finals. pic.twitter.com/AN83UrgItD – 5:03 PM

Malika Andrews @malika_andrews
From watching Kobe highlights before big games, to initially wanting to name “Deuce” something else, to his relationship with Jaylen Brown.
An insightful, fascinating conversation with Jayson Tatum on NBA Today: pic.twitter.com/oH7Etu315n – 4:09 PM

Justin Kubatko @jkubatko
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have been involved in 39 postseason wins as a duo.
Only one duo in NBA history in which both players were 25 years old or younger has more such wins: B.J. Armstrong and Scott Williams (42). Huh?
* Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka also had 39 such wins. pic.twitter.com/mOUEyRE0yA – 4:01 PM

Keith Smith @KeithSmithNBA
Jayson Tatum was asked about Ime Udoka being even keeled: “I don’t if y’all see it, but he cusses us out a lot! But he always had faith in us. Even when we were the 11-seed, Ime believed that we could be here.” – 2:05 PM

John Karalis @John_Karalis
Tatum asked about Ime not getting too high or too low: Never gets too high? I don’t know if y’all see, but he cusses us out a lot. But I guess it’s warranted – 2:05 PM

Keith Smith @KeithSmithNBA
Jaylen Brown on he and Jayson Tatum leading the Celtics efforts on defense: “If we’re doin’ it, everybody gotta do it.” – 2:02 PM

Chris Broussard @Chris_Broussard
Is it fair to compare Jayson Tatum to Kevin Durant? Were Del Rio’s comments a fireable offense? What Draymond doesn’t understand & more! Guests: @Frank Kaminsky @plaxicoburress @FANalyst1
Catch us live weeknights 7-10p ET on @FoxSportsRadio & @iHeartRadio podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the… – 1:34 PM

Joe Vardon @joevardon
The Steve Kerr-Curry-Clay-Draymond Warriors have won three titles, two different ways. Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum have taken away one of those avenues, @The Athletic theathletic.com/3356764/2022/0… – 1:21 PM

Tommy Beer @TommyBeer
Jayson Tatum has tallied 552 points, 137 rebounds and 131 assists thus far in the 2022 playoffs.
The only two players in NBA history to match or exceed Tatum’s total number of points, dimes and boards in a single postseason are:
LeBron James (six times)
and
Larry Bird (twice) – 12:57 PM

Marcus Thompson @ThompsonScribe
Tatum had 19 drives in Game 3, taking the lead from Curry, who drove 11 times. Breaking the paint is vital for Warriors’ offense pic.twitter.com/FhWBEWV3lT – 12:53 PM

JD Shaw @JShawNBA
NBA’s best from June 8:
– S. Curry: 31 pts, 4 reb, 2 stl
– J. Brown: 27 pts, 9 reb, 5 ast
– J. Tatum: 26 pts, 6 reb, 9 ast
– K. Thompson: 25 pts, 3 reb, 3 ast
– M. Smart: 24 pts, 7 reb, 5 ast
– A. Horford: 11 pts, 8 reb, 6 ast
– R. Williams III: 8 pts, 10 reb, 4 blk – 11:31 AM

Keith Smith @KeithSmithNBA
It’s a jumbo-sized, Bakers Dozen version of the Takeaways on @celticsblog from NBA Finals Game 3:
-Bouncing back again
-JB set the tone
-Smart attacks the rim
-Rob comes up big
-ORs
-Ball/player movement
-Tatum driving
-Recovery D
-GRANT
-Luck helps too
celticsblog.com/2022/6/9/23161… – 11:02 AM

Kamenetzky Brothers @KamBrothers
Thursday’s @LockedOnLakers podcast! We discuss the Lakers working out free agents, and a polarized reaction among fans to Celtic Jayson Tatum evoking Kobe so often during his playoff run. #FirstListen @LockedOnNBAPods @LockedOnNetwork
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jay… – 10:39 AM

Justin Kubatko @jkubatko
The @Boston Celtics Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart have each scored at least 20 points in the same game six times this postseason.
That ties the NBA record for most such games by a trio in a single postseason (shared with four others). pic.twitter.com/EX5qfNr12S – 9:51 AM

Joe Vardon @joevardon
Celtics’ Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown take away one of Warriors’ paths to title ⁦@The Athletic⁩ theathletic.com/3356764/2022/0… – 9:41 AM

StatMuse @statmuse
The Celtics last 10 games:
— 6-0 when Tatum has more assists than turnovers
— 0-4 when Tatum has more turnovers than assists pic.twitter.com/dhOQE6uOqd – 9:15 AM

Justin Kubatko @jkubatko
Jayson Tatum is one of 10 players (18 instances) in NBA history to record at least 500p/125r/125a in a single postseason.
The 24-year-old Tatum is the second-youngest player to do so, trailing only LeBron James (22 years old, 2007). pic.twitter.com/CoAuirzfxV – 9:11 AM

Justin Kubatko @jkubatko
Three @Boston Celtics recorded at least 20p/5r/5a last night:
✅ Jaylen Brown (27/9/5)
✅ Jayson Tatum (26/6/9)
✅ Marcus Smart (24/7/5)
It’s the fourth time in NBA Finals history a team has had three such players in the same game.
The Celtics account for three of those occurrences. pic.twitter.com/lI02W1GR9e – 9:01 AM

Chase Hughes @ChaseHughesNBCS
Projected 1st round pick Jaden Hardy of G-League Ignite did a pre-draft workout with the Wizards today. He talked about studying Bradley Beal’s game, running into Kyle Kuzma and more. nbcsports.com/washington/wiz… – 3:49 PM

Gerald Bourguet @GeraldBourguet
We’re going live on @PHNX_Suns a little earlier than usual today! Join us in 5 minutes as we discuss Bradley Beal and one theory about why the Suns’ playoff run ended the way it did:
youtube.com/watch?v=Zn5Bya… – 2:25 PM

Wayne Cole @waynec0le
In comparison to Bradley Beal, Jaden Hardy says, “he’s been compared to Beal since High School, watches a lot of film on Brad, it’s Great to be compared to him. He’s a Great player.” #dcaboveall pic.twitter.com/Bf1s4l06ww – 12:02 PM

More on this storyline

Beal was then asked about their relationship, and the impact he’s had on Tatum’s life and career. “It’s surreal in a lot of ways,” Beal said. “Because, for me, I didn’t have that image, per se. To me, my older brother was my favorite player, outside of the [players] in the NBA. So I didn’t have that image of what a pro was like, what recruiting was like. Going through that phase, I’d seen it within my family, so that was my way of learning on the fly. It’s funny, he talks about my AAU team, because he was a part of that … that speaks volumes of his character, and just who he is.” -via Sports Illustrated / June 10, 2022

“Him & my mom went to high school. He’s known my dad,” said Tatum, who finished Game 3 with 26 points, nine assists and six rebounds. “St. Louis is as big as this room, so we know each other. Nelly is arguably the most famous guy from St. Louis, until I can catch up.” -via New York Post / June 10, 2022

This year’s NBA Finals ratings have been nothing if not consistent. Wednesday’s Warriors-Celtics NBA Finals Game 3 averaged a 6.2 rating and 11.52 million viewers on ABC, up 32% in ratings and 25% in viewership from Suns-Bucks on a Sunday night in July last year, but down 21% and 14% respectively from Raptors-Warriors in 2019, the previous Finals to take place in the month of June (7.8, 13.35M). -via Sports Media Watch / June 10, 2022