What Made Jayson Tatum’s 2018 Dunk Over LeBron James So Significant

In 2017, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers ruled the East and the Boston Celtics were in search of establishing their new core. Then rookie Jayson Tatum took just one offensive possession to make himself a household name.

And it couldn’t come on a bigger stage.

It was the 2018 Eastern Conference Finals. Boston hosted Cleveland for a do-or-die Game 7 showdown after taking a 2-0 series lead. James, who had already delivered his long-awaited promise of a title to Cleveland in 2016, was in search of a fourth consecutive NBA Finals appearance. And with the C’s already down Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward, the window of opportunity couldn’t be any more wide-open for the Cavs.

But Tatum, who the Celtics had just taken No. 3 overall in the 2017 NBA draft, was also hungry. With Irving and Hayward sidelined, the then-20-year-old Duke product inherited a great deal of responsibility. Tatum stood alongside fellow youngsters Jaylen Brown and Terry Rozier with the odds stacked against them and just four quarters away from an NBA Finals date with the Golden State Warriors.

And while the pendulum didn’t swing Boston’s way, the night was bittersweet for Tatum.

In the fourth quarter, with the Celtics trailing by four points, Tatum got the ball at the top of the key. He then blew by Cleveland defenders Kyle Korver and Tristan Thompson, meeting James at the rim. That’s when Tatum made his first NBA hallmark moment.

Tatum quickly reminded James of what just unfolded, bumping his chest under the basket and uplifting a roaring TD Garden crowd.

Rewatch Tatum’s poster over James here, courtesy of ESPN:

With James’ departure, which followed in the offseason after the finals, the dunk served as more than just Tatum’s first highlight clip for his career reel. It symbolized Tatum’s moment of arrival to the league. It foreshadowed what the East had to face, despite James’ signing with the Los Angeles Lakers that summer. Instead of the semi-flashy forward playing second-fiddle to Irving, Tatum made it known once and for all that he was the future of Celtics basketball.

And that’s exactly how it all unfolded.

Reflecting back on that NBA 2k-like jam that many could only dream of, Tatum shared his awareness of the weight it held.

“I was fully aware of what I had just done,” Tatum said on JJ Redick’s “The Old Man and the Three” podcast in 2022. “… And I remember I had talked to Bron for like a minute, like a minute straight we were talking. And in that moment I realized what I had just done, how close we were and that was kind of the like, ‘Alright I’ma be pretty good for a while.’ Like I think the world realized it. LeBron had realized it at that point.”

Tatum averaged 17.9 points on 49.5% shooting from the field with 4.1 rebounds in the series. He played over 40 minutes in two of those games and led the Celtics in scoring both times. That scoring average was a major boost from Tatum’s 13.9 points through 80 games in the regular season. It became just a snippet of the star that would soon blossom and draw comparisons to Paul Pierce as the new face of the franchise.

Fast forward five years later and Tatum is exactly that. He’s racked up four All-Star selections, an NBA Finals appearance, experienced the daunting and bright days as the go-to man and stands among favorites for the league MVP Award this season at just 24 years old.

As one could imagine, Tatum gained a lot of confidence after that single offensive possession.

“I remember (thinking) like, ‘I’ma be pretty good at this,” Tatum said.