Across all sports, each athlete has a coach or a teammate they look up to. But for Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum, his hero is his mother Brandy Cole-Barnes.
Tatum joined coach Mike Krzyzewski on SiriusXM's "Basketball & Beyond with Coach K" last Wednesday, and after talking about the changes to the Celtics in the offseason, Krzyzewski raised the subject of what drives him off the court.
"Anybody that knows me a little bit or a lot knows my mom is my best friend," Tatum said. "She has been the most important person in my life."
Tatum noted that his mom's favorite compliments to hear are about her son off the court.
"Basketball aside, the things that she's instilled in me, the young man that she raised me to be off the court, is just as valuable," Tatum explained. "That's just a testament to how I was raised, and I give all the credit to my mom."
The Celtics forward went on to explain that his mother is there for him now, just as much as she was 10 years ago when he was 15.
"She keeps me grounded," Tatum said. "She's been very instrumental in helping me become a father. My mom is the key to all of this."
Tatum's son, Jayson Jr., nicknamed Duece, just turned six this past December, and Tatum said now that's older, their relationship has changed.
"I was terrified," Tatum said of when Duece was born. "He was born December 6, two months into my NBA career. I was 19, but I wasn't going to let one affect the other.
"We're on this journey together. He's at the perfect age where he's really starting to understand what I do. It's been really cool. He's a smaller version of myself. It's really the best feeling. Better than any award; the feeling of being his dad."
With four games remaining, the C's are three games behind the Milwaukee Bucks for the Eastern Conference No. 1 seed. But regardless of seeding, Boston will start the chase for Banner 18 when the NBA playoffs begin on April 15. You can bet it will be a family affair, with both Duece and his grandmother in the stands cheering on their favorite All-Star.
