The NBA is full of “what if” scenarios, and one of the biggest ones in recent history revolves around the Los Angeles Lakers and their decision in the 2017 NBA Draft.
The Lakers held the No. 2 pick and were set on selecting Lonzo Ball. Markelle Fultz, who was widely considered the best prospect in the class, was expected to go No. 1 to the Boston Celtics, who owned the first pick.
But then, the Celtics made a surprising move, trading the No. 1 and No. 3 picks with the Philadelphia 76ers, which allowed them to select Jayson Tatum with the third pick. Looking back, it’s clear that Boston won the trade, as Tatum has become one of the NBA’s top players and led the Celtics to a championship.
In a recent interview on the *Club 520 Podcast*, Tatum shared how much he wanted to play for the Lakers growing up, especially because of his admiration for Kobe Bryant. He recalled how he never even got the chance to work out for the Lakers:
No, I mean it definitely worked out,” Tatum said. “The narrative was — it was consensus that Markell was going number one and when the Lakers got the second pick it was like Lonzo was going two. So the Celtics had the number one pick at the time, they came to watch me in Phoenix. So Phoenix was four.
I worked out for all of them, they came and watched me. But then somebody, I ain’t going to say his name, but somebody in the Celtics front office was like, ‘Yo, one of the best workouts I’ve seen. Good luck in your career, but we got the number one pick we’re probably not gonna pick you.’”
Tatum continued, “So at the time, I was like…For me, I grew up a Kobe fan. Like, I always wanted to play for the Lakers. For them to have the number two pick and it was like they didn’t even…it wasn’t even a thought that I was gonna get drafted that was kind of devastating. So I never worked out for the Lakers, they never came to watch me workout.”
Tatum has always been open about his love for Kobe, even wearing Bryant’s No. 10 Team USA jersey this past summer during the Olympics.
There’s no telling how things would have turned out for the Lakers if they had drafted Tatum instead of Ball, but one thing is clear: Tatum is thriving with the Celtics.
As a tribute to Bryant, Tatum recently got a tattoo of the All-Star Game trophy named after Kobe.
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