NBA champion Jayson Tatum has inspired his dad’s NBL coaching success at the Illawarra Hawks
Illawarra Hawks coach Justin Tatum has dismissed criticisms of his son, NBA star Jayson while crediting the impact the highest paid NBA player has had on his NBL team.
Justin Tatum says the “wrong people” are discounting his NBA championship-winning son Jayson Tatum, revealing how the Boston Celtics superstar has played a vital role in his NBL coaching success with the Illawarra Hawks.
Tatum junior has been the talk of the NBA, with experts and fans questioning his standing in the game despite leading the Celtics to last year’s title.
The prodigiously talented 26-year-old is also the NBA’s highest paid player – taking home a whopping $494 million over the next five years.
Yet according to some armchair experts and fans, Tatum isn’t worthy to stand alongside the NBA’s finest stars.
In a recent interview, Jayson conceded he is treated differently to other players, prompting him to declare he doesn’t feel appreciated.
His dad Justin says the haters are always going to hate, but the criticism levelled at his son is unwarranted given his impressive record.
“Jayson’s body of work is probably under-appreciated just because the wrong people comment about it,” Justin Tatum said about his son Jayson, who has reached the NBA conference finals in five of his seven seasons to date.
“When you do well you are going to have people who don’t like you for some reason - it is a part of life.
“But what I respect from Jayson is his body of work, his team is winning in almost every category and he plays in such a professional way.
“I know he isn’t the most electric, talkative or those things that people or the NBA wants to see, so I can understand the under-appreciation comes from if you are just judging someone as a person.
“But if you are a basketball mind, then the appreciation would be through the roof for what he is displaying right now.”
Wollongong-based Justin lives a world away from his son Jayson in Boston, but the pair talk daily about all things life and hoops.
Their connection went to another level last year during the Celtics’ run to the NBA championship.
Justin was blessed to be on the ground in Boston with a front-row seat to his son’s charge to the title.
“Being able to observe the Celtics’ culture and Jayson’s mannerisms and talk to him about the adjustments he made under pressure and trying to instil that here at Illawarra,” he said.
“There was a lot of information that I was able to pull from that journey.”
Justin now has a chance to follow in Jayson’s footsteps and win a championship with Illawarra.
The Hawks took one step towards the title on Friday night with a hard fought semi-final win over the South East Melbourne Phoenix.
Illawarra will book a berth in the grand final series if they beat the Phoenix in Melbourne on Sunday.
The Hawks finished on top of the NBL ladder for the first time in the franchise’s 46-year history, but experts insist they need to prove they can deliver in the playoffs.
Tatum has used the doubt as motivation, but he also agrees with the criticism.
“Because it’s actually true,” said Tatum, who won the NBL’s Coach of the Year this season.
“You are judged on what you do in the playoffs and that isn’t something we’ve seen from the Hawks for some time.
“People will remember winning the games during the season, but if you don’t win that is what your name and career is judged off.
“So, there is some truth behind it and our job is to give them something else to talk about.
“At the end of the day you are judged on what you do in the playoffs, so we have a job to do to make sure we change people’s minds about us.”
NBL SEMI-FINAL: (Hawks lead series 1-0)
Game 2 - Sunday, March 2
South East Melbourne Phoenix vs Illawarra Hawks at John Cain Arena from 2.30pm (AEDT)
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