Celtics vs. Lakers. Jayson Tatum vs. LeBron James. Pick any day on the calendar and those matchups are going to generate some serious buzz. Put it all together on a Christmas stage and the possibilities feel limitless.
Just ask Tatum about Monday’s showdown in Los Angeles, and he can barely contain his glow.
“Playing against LeBron, the Lakers on Christmas Day, prime time -- it’s what it’s all about,” Tatum said in his walk-off interview with NBC Sports Boston’s Abby Chin after Saturday’s win over the Clippers. “It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
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What makes it that much more special is that you can essentially plot Tatum’s path to NBA superstardom using just interactions with LeBron as mile markers.
Rewind all the way to a young Tatum ambitiously tweeting at LeBron ("it’s Larry Hughes nephew … follow back”). Tatum’s rookie season in the league crescendoes with a holy-bleep moment when he dunks on James in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, though James and the Cavaliers ultimately prevailed in the series.
By February of 2020, it’s James now posting pictures of him and Tatum together on social media. After an enthralling Sunday showdown in L.A., James posted a picture of the duo both waiting to check in at the scorer’s table with the caption, "That boi to the left of me is an ABSOLUTE PROBLEM!! Keep going.”
Eventually, it’s Tatum getting the better of James. During a visit to L.A. last December, Tatum scored 44 points, including a game-tying fadeaway over James to force overtime in a game that Boston escaped with a win.
The NBA recently asked Tatum to detail that moment and he still has that same glow.
“It’s cliche, but that might be one of my favorite highlights I’ve ever had,” said Tatum, who grew up idolizing Kobe Bryant and raved about having success on the same floor where Bryant starred. “Boston-Lakers rivalry, down two with 20 seconds left, got the rebound and then it was me and Bron -- one of the greatest, if not the greatest player of all time. And somebody I have a great relationship with.
“In that moment, 1-on-1, going between my legs, behind my back, I lose the ball, and I get it back. Hit the shot and we go into overtime and win. That’s the moment that you live for.”
Which makes you wonder if another moment is brewing on Monday.
Seeing James on the other side of the court always seems to bring out the best in Tatum. Celtics vs. Lakers always has its own buzz, each team with 17 championships to its name, and it’s even more magical when both teams feel like they have a real chance to add to that total in the same season.
Tatum has had big Christmas moments. Last year he scored 41 points in a win over Milwaukee (four points shy of Tommy Heinsohn’s Christmas Day record of 45 against Syracuse in 1961). What might he have planned for an encore?
There are no guarantees. But Christmas always seems to produce some magical moments.
