Jayson Tatum just put LeBron James on a poster
By Kareem Gantt
Jayson Tatum came at the King, and he didn’t miss. His Game 7 poster dunk over LeBron James was a career-defining moment.
You know that saying, “you come at the king, you better not miss?” Well, that’s what rookie phenom Jayson Tatum did to LeBron James in the biggest game of his young career: and the young fella didn’t miss.
In fact, he made sure to put King James on his personal poster.
With the Boston Celtics scrambling for points in the waning minutes of the best Game 7 we have witnessed in quite some time, Tatum, who has grown as a star during the 2018 NBA Playoffs, decided that his team, and his building, TD Garden, needed a spark.
Catching the ball at the top of the key, Tatum knew that he was going to take it to the rim to fan Boston’s flicker into a flame. What he didn’t see at first was King James lurking in the paint, waiting on the unsuspecting Tatum to mosey on down so he could swat his dunk away, much like he did with Terry Rozier earlier.
Tatum drove to the basket and saw LeBron getting himself ready for his second Sportscenter Top 10 highlight of the night. It happened, but not the way King James wanted it to go.
Jayson Tatum POSTERIZED LeBron https://t.co/Xse7TL5ort
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) May 28, 2018
The young fella took off, gliding to the rim, and LeBron jumped with him, which, was a huge mistake for the King. Tatum one-handed the ball over LeBron, bringing TD Garden to an enormous roar and giving his Celtics new life in a game that meant everything to both teams.
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Had LeBron blocked Tatum, it probably would have spelled the end of the scrappy Celtics remarkable playoff run. That’s how important that slam was, and it was poster-perfect, regardless of the final score. Jayson Tatum came at the King like he has done all series; and when he needed to hit him most, he didn’t miss.