{"id":338818,"date":"2025-10-13T17:13:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T17:13:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/338818\/"},"modified":"2025-10-13T17:13:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T17:13:10","slug":"jayson-tatum-makes-1-thing-crystal-clear-at-sneaker-launch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/338818\/","title":{"rendered":"Jayson Tatum makes 1 thing crystal clear at sneaker launch"},"content":{"rendered":"

ROXBURY, Mass. \u2014 The crowd\u2019s anticipation grew by the minute.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere\u2019s my king?\u201d one lanky 8th grader belted.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe GOAT is coming!\u201d yelled his equally enthralled friend.<\/p>\n

A sea of kids hurled one-liners at one another as they eagerly anticipated the arrival of Jayson Tatum<\/a>. For hours, hundreds of Celtics fans flooded the bleachers of a makeshift basketball court outside of a Footlocker just steps away from Dudley Square.<\/p>\n

And, while they waited, fans of all ages partook in dance battles and karaoke, all while ooh-ing and aah-ing each and every time a car drove by that could possibly carry the six-time All-Star.<\/p>\n

Then, as the sun began to set, Tatum arrived, donning a red St. Louis baseball cap as he sauntered onto the parquet, his mother, Brandy Cole, beside him.<\/p>\n

Tatum, who traveled with the Celtics for both preseason games despite being sidelined, was in Roxbury to celebrate the launch of his new Jordan Brand sneakers, which were released on Friday when the Celtics superstar was in Toronto with the team.<\/p>\n

So, less than a day after touching down in Boston, Tatum spent the afternoon with Celtics fans in Roxbury. His Tatum 4 campaign slogan \u2014 Never Be The Same: Same Was Never The Goal \u2014 overlooked the basketball court.<\/p>\n

In a panel conversation moderated by reporter Greydy Diaz, Tatum reflected on the release of his fourth shoe, which comes in colorways that represent both St. Louis and Boston.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis means the world,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to believe that I\u2019ve been here for nine years. I was always prideful about where I was from in St. Louis, and now I\u2019ve grown to have that same pride about being in Boston.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI really love my time here. I\u2019ve loved spending really my adulthood in Boston. The best fans, the unconditional support and love. It\u2019s really special being here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inside the Tatum 4 sneakers<\/p>\n

The Tatum 4s \u2014 the fourth edition of Tatum\u2019s Jordan Brand sneaker line \u2014 comes in a red St. Louis colorway and with the names of each of Tatum\u2019s young sons, Deuce and Dylan, engraved on the inside flap of each shoe.<\/p>\n

And, on the back of each sneaker is a silver \u20180\u2019 pendant representing Tatum\u2019s jersey number.<\/p>\n

Tatum explained that the design process began 18 months ago, and noted that his Tatum 4s are currently the lightest shoes in the entire Jordan line. The red colorway \u2014 which hit shelves on Oct. 11th \u2014 represents Tatum\u2019s hometown of St. Louis, while the \u2018Green Glow\u2019 colorway \u2014 coming out on Oct. 23rd \u2014 draws inspiration from Boston and the Celtics.<\/p>\n

Those are intentional design decisions, he explained: \u201cIf somebody had to tell the story of Jayson Tatum, you couldn\u2019t tell it without St Louis and Boston.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sitting beside Tatum, Brandy Cole reflected on how long he has envisioned and manifested a signature shoe.<\/p>\n

\u201cEver since he was three, he started making a list of all the things that he wanted to accomplish, things he wanted to check off his list \u2014 and the signature shoe was always on there,\u201d Cole said. \u201cSo, getting to watch him put in the work in the process, and enjoy the process, and really put his stamp on all the shoes \u2014 it\u2019s wonderful.\u201d<\/p>\n

On release day, Tatum surprised fans at a store in Toronto, where the Celtics played were for a preseason game. But, the following day, he got to celebrate the shoe in front of fans in Boston, an experience that felt especially meaningful given the star\u2019s growing connection to the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe expectations here are different,\u201d Tatum said of the city of Boston. Whether it\u2019s a preseason game, league pass game, or whether it\u2019s the Finals, every game is sold out. The fans here truly appreciate good basketball, and they respect what we do. It\u2019s a privilege to go out there and put that uniform on and compete \u2014 not only for yourself, but for the people that came before you, and for all the fans in Boston.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tatum reflects on what\u2019s next post-injury<\/p>\n

In May, Tatum ruptured his Achilles tendon in a playoff game against the New York Knicks, immediately ending his season and threatening his availability for the entirety of the upcoming one.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s been transparent about how difficult those first few days were \u2014 \u201cI remember telling my mom, \u2018I might be done,\u201d he told People Magazine.<\/p>\n

But in recent weeks, he\u2019s shared his progress, first showcasing his improved mobility on the court<\/a> on his YouTube channel, and most recently, sharing a video of a recent dunk on X.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis moment kind of allowed myself to be honest and vulnerable,\u201d Tatum said. \u201cA lot of times, people will see their favorite athlete and see them as superheroes. And a lot of times, we do amazing things, but we\u2019re human, and we go through real-life situations. And I think this is me being honest about what I\u2019m going through.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tatum knows the Achilles injury \u2014 and subsequent recovery \u2014 is now a major part of his story. In his first 8 seasons with the Celtics, he earned six All-Star appearances and four First Team All-NBA appearances, while leading the Celtics to five Eastern Conference Finals, two Finals, and one championship.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first eight years were unbelievable, amazing, accomplished some incredible things,\u201d he said. \u201cI think now is just \u2014 not a turning point, but just a different stage in my life. And, accepting that what happened to me, it did happen, and not necessarily letting it define you in a negative way. It\u2019s just an opportunity to show people what you\u2019re going through, and let people know that I won\u2019t be the same \u2014 I\u2019m gonna come back and be better.\u201d<\/p>\n

The journey to come back better began in May. Tatum had surgery to repair the torn Achilles the morning after the injury in New York City, and subsequently moved back into his mom\u2019s house.<\/p>\n

Then, he spent all summer at the Auerbach Center.<\/p>\n

Last month, Tatum told numerous media outlets that he hasn\u2019t ruled out a return this season \u2014 and that he\u2019s circled a date on the calendar that he hopes to be cleared by in order to make his TD Garden return: \u201cI haven\u2019t said I\u2019m not playing this season\u2026 I don\u2019t go to rehab 6 days a week for nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since Media Day, Celtics players have gushed about the star\u2019s commitment to his rehab, and at the shoe launch, his mother recalled how quickly Tatum got right back to work.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy day three, he was going to the facility every day and putting in five, six hours\u2019 worth of work and coming back,\u201d Cole said. \u201cAnd I just tried to be as supportive as possible and encourage him, and just remind him who he is, who he\u2019s destined to be, and that this is just part of the process. It doesn\u2019t define him. And like he said, that he\u2019ll be back and better than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether Tatum laces up this season remains to be seen. It\u2019s evident that it remains a short-term goal.<\/p>\n

But the Celtics star made clear that he\u2019s working toward bringing another banner to Boston, regardless of when that is.<\/p>\n

And, when asked to name a favorite moment from his Boston tenure, he broke into a grin.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not even a question,\u201d Tatum said. \u201cI have two kids. I got drafted. The best day of my life was the parade. The best day of my life.\u201c<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I promise we\u2019re going to do it again.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ROXBURY, Mass. \u2014 The crowd\u2019s anticipation grew by the minute. \u201cWhere\u2019s my king?\u201d one lanky 8th grader belted.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":327224,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3766],"tags":[7,45,75,37650,3798,46,37728,21388,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-338818","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boston-celtics","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-boston","10":"tag-boston-celtics","11":"tag-boston-celtics-articles","12":"tag-bostonceltics","13":"tag-celtics","14":"tag-celtics-features","15":"tag-celtics-news","16":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=338818"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338818\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=338818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=338818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=338818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}