Jayson Tatum wanted to be a Los Angeles Laker.
Kobe Bryant was his idol, his hero, his favorite player
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Tatum wanted to be the next Black Mamba.
Unfortunately, the historic franchise didn’t want him.
So what did Tatum do?
He won a championship with the Lakers’ most bitter rival, the Boston Celtics.
That is an easy way to oversimplify it, but it isn’t wrong.
In the 2017 NBA Draft, the Lakers held the second overall pick, while the Celtics originally had the first pick, but swapped with the Philadelphia 76ers, who had the third pick, just four days before the draft.
Following along?
PHI – #1
LAL – #2
BOS – #3
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Tatum was projected to go somewhere in the top three, but the indication was that LA was going to take Lonzo Ball out of UCLA, while the 76’ers were going to take Markelle Fultz out of Washington with the first overall pick.
Thus leaving the Duke forward to fall into Boston’s lap.
Appearing on Jeff Teague’s Club 520 Podcast, not only did Tatum reveal that he wanted to be in the purple and gold, but that the Lakers didn’t even give him a look.
“I grew up a Kobe fan. I always wanted to play for the Lakers,” Tatum shared.
“For them to have the No. 2 pick [in the 2017 NBA Draft], it wasn’t even a thought that I was going to get drafted (by them).
“That was kinda devastating. So, I never worked out for the Lakers. They never came to watch me work out.”
The Lakers didn’t even give Tatum a workout.
Instead, they drafted Ball, who played just two seasons for the team, missing out on the postseason both years, and traded him to New Orleans in the blockbuster move that also included Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, three first round picks and a pick swap, for Anthony Davis.
This catapulted the Lakers into winning the title in 2020, spearheaded by LeBron James and Davis.
Meanwhile, Tatum has been on an absolute tear during his time in Boston, winning a first championship in 2023-24, to go along with five All-Star appearances, four All-NBA nods and an All-Star Game MVP.
Do the Lakers prefer they had taken Tatum instead of Ball in 2017?
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Probably.
But they’ll never admit to that.
Both franchises each have one title since then, albeit Boston having a much more sustained run of success than their counterparts.
Tatum wanted to be a Laker and follow in the footsteps of his basketball hero.
While the dream did not come true, the reality has proved to be pretty special for a player on his way to becoming a Boston legend.
