Los Angeles Lakers Hall of Famer guard Magic Johnson crushed Boston Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum’s lifelong dream. Lakers legend Kobe Bryant was Tatum’s hero growing up, wearing the same number as Bryant in the 2024 Olympics. Jayson did it as a tribute to the late legend. However, he still can’t believe Johnson and Los Angeles showed no interest in drafting the Duke product entering the 2017 NBA Draft.
Tatum can’t believe he never received any consideration eight years removed from his draft year, per Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn.
“Yeah, I think I was upset at the time that there wasn’t genuine interest,” Tatum said
With the second overall pick, the Lakers were deadlocked on selecting Lonzo Ball. This gave the Celtics, with the No. 1 overall pick, the opportunity to trade down, selecting Tatum at No. 3 while earning a future first-round pick. Johnson, the Lakers' president of basketball operations at the time, says the Lakers had enough players at the forward position.
“From my perspective, I grew up the biggest Kobe fan and wanted to play for the Lakers. And Magic explained it: they had too many forwards and that was their thought process at the time. It wasn’t like I got any animosity toward Magic or the Lakers. It was just as a kid. I was close to accomplishing a life-long dream, the way I thought it would be.
“It didn’t work out that way. Obviously, it worked out best-case scenario. But I love Magic Johnson. I love what he means to the game. I have no hard feelings toward him. Every time I see him, it’s always love. It’s just something that happened, and it’s probably a million stories throughout the NBA that guys should have gone or thought they were going somewhere. Everything happened for a reason,” Tatum concluded.
As a longtime fan of Bryant, Tatum hoped to one day wear purple and gold. He hoped the Lakers would call for a potential workout, but is happy with how everything turned out.
Jayson Tatum pulls off rare feat not seen since Larry Bird
Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum etched his name into Celtics’ history while beating the Chicago Bulls 123-98 Saturday night. He became the first Celtics player to record a 40+ point triple-double (43 points, 16 rebounds, 10 assists) since Bird.
Bird’s last 40-point triple-double happened against the Portland Trail Blazers on March 15, 1992, per StatMuse. Tatum and the Celtics will face the Magic on Monday night.
