While Jayson Tatum continues to climb up the all-time Celtics rankings because the face of the franchise, he had gone his total NBA profession with out assembly one of many organization’s icons. C’s legend Larry Bird is a personal man now that he’s away from basketball, so Tatum hadn’t even been in the identical room as Bird.
That all modified Sunday on the All-Star recreation in Indianapolis. While Bird performed his total profession with the Celtics, he has deep ties to the state of Indiana, taking part in his faculty ball at Indiana State then having a number of roles with the Pacers throughout his post-playing profession. So it was the right probability for Tatum to hyperlink up with Bird, although the 25-year-old admitted pregame Sunday he was “anxious” assembly the Hall of Famer for the primary time.
“I got a chance to go meet him and tell him how much of an honor it was to meet him,” Tatum stated. “He told me he was looking forward to meeting me. That was crazy to hear him say that. He’s a lot taller than I thought he was. Obviously what he means to the game, what he means to the city of Boston and the Celtics. He’s the ultimate Celtic, so it was an honor to meet him.”
BetMGM BET $5, GET $158! BONUS BETS
STATES: MA, KY, AZ, CO, IA, IL, IN, KS, LA, MD, MI, NJ, NY, OH, PA, TN, VA. Visit BetMGM.com for Terms and Conditions. 21 years of age or older to wager. MA Only. New Customer Offer. All promotions are topic to qualification and eligibility necessities. Rewards issued as non-withdrawable bonus bets. Bonus bets expire 7 days from issuance. In Partnership with MGM Springfield. Play it good from the beginning with GameSense. GameSenseMA.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-327-5050 or go to gamblinghelplinema.org.
It’s not stunning Bird needed to satisfy Tatum as his stardom has grown in not simply Boston however all through the NBA. Tatum has grow to be one of many brightest young stars within the league as he’s been named an All-Star for the final 5 seasons. He took All-Star recreation MVP honors final yr, and he adopted that up with a 20-point night time Sunday within the East’s win over the West.
So whereas All-Star weekend festivities are at all times an excellent time, Tatum acquired to take home just a little one thing further together with his interplay with Bird. The Celtics legend has restricted his time within the public eye in recent years, so it’s at all times a pleasure to see the 67-year-old at NBA features.
Of course, Tatum is making an attempt to build his personal legacy in Boston. He’s already completed rather a lot, however he’s already in his seventh season within the league as he turns 26 subsequent month. So he’s shortly incomes his veteran standing as he appears to be like to achieve the identical highs that Bird delivered to the town.
First up is profitable that elusive NBA championship, which Tatum and the C’s have come so near however haven’t been capable of attain the mountaintop but. That’ll be the first focus for the C’s popping out of the All-Star break.
“Meeting Larry, it was super quick,” Tatum stated. “I had told him it was an honor to meet him, and he told me he was looking forward to finally get to meet me. Then we took a picture. So we didn’t get to talk in detail.”
- Highly anticipated sportsbooks like BetMGM Massachusetts, together with Caesars Sportsbook Massachusetts have been reside since Spring of 2023. New gamers can use promo codes just like the FanDuel Massachusetts promo code and the DraftKings Massachusetts promo.
