Jayson Tatum agreed to Netflix show because he thought Celtics would win NBA title

Jayson Tatum watched the first two episodes of his new Netflix docuseries at the red-carpet premiere.

But once the full season of “Starting 5” became available on Wednesday, the Boston Celtics star jumped straight to the good stuff.

“I ain’t gonna lie, I skipped to Episode 10 last night,” Tatum said after Thursday’s Celtics practice. “I just wanted to see what that was like. And I was emotional, in a good way, reliving those moments of accomplishing a lifelong dream, all the behind-the-scenes stuff. It made me really joyful last night to watch that on TV just to relive that moment of us winning a championship.”

The season finale naturally devotes the bulk of its runtime to the 2024 NBA Finals, which Boston won in five games to give Tatum his long-awaited first championship.

“It seemed like yesterday,” said Tatum, who had cameras following him on and off the court throughout last season. “It [also] seemed like that [expletive] was a long time ago. But it was something I’ll never forget. I remember what that moment felt like. I remember how we all felt, like how much it meant to all of us and our families. But that was special watching it back.”

Tatum is one of five NBA players spotlighted in the series, along with LeBron James, Jimmy Butler, Anthony Edwards and Domantas Sabonis. If there’s one single “star,” it’s James, who’s by far the most accomplished of the five NBAers featured and receives the most camera time over the 10 episodes.

Conscious of this, Tatum said the folks who pitched him on appearing in the show suggested he might want to wait until the second season to avoid being overshadowed by an all-time great. But Tatum, who enjoyed the way Netflix profiled NFL stars in its similarly structured “Quarterback” series, jumped at the chance.

One reason for his enthusiasm: He was confident the Celtics had a championship-caliber team.

“I remember I watched ‘Quarterback,’ and when they came to me with the idea, at the time, they said LeBron was in it,” Tatum recalled. “And honestly he was like, ‘Yo, you could wait until Season 2 and … maybe be the star of Season 2.’ And I was like, ‘No, I want to be a part of the first one.’ And I was like, ‘I think we’re gonna win the championship.’ And we did.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2WPTg9S