Jayson Tatum's Iconic Poster Dunk On LeBron Was Fueled By An Autograph Snub When Tatum Was 11 Years Old

Brian Babineau. Getty Images.

I can't lie, I have been thoroughly enjoying NBA Champion Jayson Tatum. Now that he finally reached the top of the mountain and will forever be a champion, he is so much more relaxed. It's partly why next season should be so incredible for Tatum, because now he enters an NBA season never having to worry about the "what if he never wins" pressure, and that should be pretty terrifying for opposing fanbases. As we inch closer to Tatum's NBA prime years he's still ascending, and now that he can play free we should get the best version of him as a player to date.

For those of us who have watched every dribble of Tatum's career, we all know where this stuff truly started.

There are not many people on this planet who put LeBron on a poster and live to tell about it. Remember like 20 years ago when he tried to get that Jordan Crawford footage scrubbed from the internet when he dunked on LeBron? When's the last time you heard about Jordan Crawford? Exactly. It's been 7 years since that dunk and you can clearly see how much it lives rent free in LeBron's head. I think that's my favorite part of this entire video. You can tell it's still eating him away inside and probably will for the rest of time.

Thankfully unlike the Crawford dunk, not only does the Tatum footage still exist, but this was the moment we as Celtics fans knew there was something special brewing. 

That entire 2017-18 season and playoff run planted the seed, but the boom on LeBron is when you knew that Tatum was one of them ones. In classic 2018 Celtics fashion they then immediately iced Tatum out the rest of that game only to miss every shot they took (sigh, Terry) and eventually blow Game 7 at home to LeBron, but that dunk will live on forever which is truly what matters. I think part of me is able to enjoy that play more now that Tatum actually has a title, and frankly that's a main reason why the Celts title rules so hard. All of these great moments for Jaylen and Jayson when they were younger can now be enjoyed without any disclaimers like 

"Sure this was an awesome play, but they don't have a ring"

for the rest of time. They're all able to now be looked at as stepping stones to this glorious moment.

Now in terms of the story, classic LeBron. While some may drag him for snubbing an 11 year old Tatum and making him cry, I'm going to do the opposite. I'm going to thank him. That pain caused by not giving Tatum an autograph is clearly what has motivated him to become one of the best basketball players on earth as well as an NBA champion, and for that I am thankful. Sure an autograph from LeBron would have been cool, but I'd say things worked out just fine in terms of how everything played out. 

If there's one thing I can say about LeBron, it's that he's always known just how special Jayson Tatum is. While pretty much all of the basketball discourse around Tatum from the national media, Twitter, etc has been beyond pathetic, LeBron has always kept it real

which I always find interesting. You hear opposing coaches and players talk about Jayson Tatum and you get a much different story compared to what very upset opposing fanbases and talking heads would have you believe. Imagine that.