How Jayson Tatum Built His Multimillion-Dollar Brand On And Off The Court

Forbes

It was a long time coming that Jayson Tatum led the Celtics to four conference finals and an NBA Finals loss before winning his first, and the franchise’s 18th, championship in June. “Being so close and sustaining such a level of success for so many years, I believed that we were going to do it,” says the five-time All-Star forward. Boston sports immortality wasn’t the only reward this fluid scorer and gritty defender received: He signed a fresh five-year, $314 million contract in July. It’s far from his first windfall. Over the years, Tatum has built a robust portfolio off the court, which Forbes estimates earns him $13 million annually and includes a sneaker deal with Nike’s Jordan Brand, the cover of 2K Sports’ latest NBA video game and a starring role in Netflix reality sries Starting 5. “Winning gets you in the door,” he says. He has also already made more than $121 million (pretax) on the court—money that his mom (yes, really) insists he mostly saves.  0:00 Introducing Jayson Tatum 1:32 On Winning The NBA Finals 3:35 The Power Of Having A Core Group Of Teammates 5:14 Tatum's Next Goals 7:20 On Growing Up And His Mother's Influence 10:24 Famous Childhood Connections 13:54 Reflecting On The 2017 Draft 16:20 Inside Tatum's Portfolio Of Contracts, Brand Deals And Sponsorships 19:44 Getting His Own Jordan Brand Shoe 22:00 On Legacy  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Even if there's only one person that I can impact that is looking up to me in

00:04a sense of like man he is inspiring me to chase my dream and help change the

00:10world, I'll be okay with that.

00:15Jason, thanks for being here with us today. Appreciate you. You've had an

00:20incredible year, NBA championship, Olympic gold medal, what goes through your mind

00:24when you reflect on that? Honestly for me is those moments are far and few between

00:29where you have the opportunity to reflect. I feel like in this business, in

00:37this world, it's always like what's next? What are you doing next? While I'm

00:42very thankful and proud of the things that we were able to accomplish and you

00:47know myself recently, you know we just started practice yesterday so it's like

00:52yeah I get ready for the next season. For sure, for sure and also I should add

00:57that you added a massive contract extension, you secure your financial

01:00future. What was the process of that like coming together? I'm thankful it was

01:05a it was an easy process. There was a mutual interest on both sides and for me

01:11it was more about being wanted. It is life-changing, family-changing,

01:19generational wealth money but for me it's like I love what I do. I love to

01:25play basketball. I love being in Boston and I was glad that they wanted me in

01:31for another five years. This has been a very competitive group for a long time

01:35obviously. You've been to the finals before but this year you achieve the

01:38ultimate goal. I'm curious you know you've shouldered a lot of those

01:41expectations so what was it like finally achieving that and getting to the

01:45mountaintop? Oh the dream come true. The past seven years in Boston, you

01:51understand the only thing here that matters is winning championships. We had

01:5417 banners prior to that and we had a blank one ready for number 18 and

02:00being to the conference finals five times and you know two years ago losing

02:05in the finals, it was devastating. It was tough but being so close and sustaining

02:09such a level of success for so many years, I believe that we were going to do

02:14it. I believe our time was coming soon and in that moment sharing it with your

02:19teammates, your family, your fans who have been on that ride with you through

02:25the ups and downs and the highest and toughest moments. That moment was one I'll

02:31never forget and then the parade was the best two hours of my life probably. I can

02:37imagine, I can imagine. So what allowed you to take the next step? Was it you

02:41know improvements physically, mentally, where what allowed it? I think you just

02:47get better over time. I'm only 26 years old and I feel like I'm older. People

02:55might think that I'm older than what I am but I came into the league at 19 and

02:58you have to you know learn certain things. You don't know what you don't

03:03know. It's a process. You have to, your body has to mature, your mental has

03:09to as well. You have to go through certain things and I didn't understand

03:15when we lost in the finals two years ago. I was frustrated, I was devastated but

03:20once you won, once we won the championship, I understood that we had to

03:25go through those things. We had to take our losses and learn from them so

03:31that when we got back to this moment we knew what it would take. You know in

03:35Boston something really unique is you have this cohesive group that's been

03:38together for such a long time and I think that's rare in today's NBA. So how

03:42much of having these same guys around you year in year out has played into

03:46your success? Having a core group has been a blessing, right? We've been through

03:53so much together but I can't stress enough getting Drew Holiday and KP, what

03:59that did for our team, how much that elevated our team. I said all the time

04:04everybody was in a perfect moment in their career. Guys have gotten their

04:09contracts, had individual success and we all came together and sacrificed certain

04:15parts of our game so that we would be the best team and that it would give us

04:19the best chance to win a championship. Yeah I think that's extremely well said.

04:23When you think about the future obviously a lot of you guys have been

04:26rewarded with the new contracts and stuff. It's hard to keep a group like

04:30that together so how do you approach the future here and do you have any concerns

04:33in terms of keeping this group around to extend it into a dynasty? For me it's all

04:38about standing the moment, understanding that you have a window and when you're

04:44in that window you can feel it and we know that however long we're

04:49together, one, two, five more years, that this is our time and we shouldn't

04:55take it for granted. We can't skip steps and we should maximize this

05:00opportunity and we're all on the same page. We got more than anything besides

05:04great basketball players, we got great people on this team and in this

05:08organization that everybody from the top down contributes to us hanging that

05:13banner. All-star, All-NBA, champion, gold medal, specifically on the court, what do

05:19you still want to accomplish? Man I want to continue to keep getting better. As a

05:27kid I was very motivated. I set a bunch of goals for myself and I've

05:35been blessed in real time to slowly be able to check off certain boxes that I

05:40wanted to accomplish. I want to win MVP one day, I want to win more championships,

05:45I want to be finals MVP. Those are at the top of the list of the things I still

05:51want to accomplish. You know when you consider those and obviously in the past

05:55you've spoken about being the face of the NBA, is that the blueprint to get

05:59there? How do you see yourself achieving that goal? Being the face of the

06:03NBA? That's like a opinion type of thing, right? You ask ten different

06:12people you might get ten different answers on who's the next face of the

06:15NBA. You put yourself in that conversation, people see you in that

06:20light, how you carry yourself, the way you present yourself in certain

06:25situations, the things that you're involved in off the court in a positive

06:30way obviously, and your style of play, how you connect with the fans, how you

06:35dominate the game, and winning championships for sure help. Speaking of

06:41face of the NBA, you know you have spoken at length about your relationship with

06:46another face, Kobe Bryant, and I'm curious kind of as you go forward what do you

06:50model after him? Being relentless, right? Kobe didn't stop at being satisfied with

06:57one championship or two or three, right? He ended up winning five and he did

07:01everything in his power. He didn't have any regrets when he left. That's what I

07:06admire about him the most. He literally gave everything that he had to the game

07:10of basketball. He maximized his guy-given ability to the nth degree and you know

07:18you got to respect somebody like that. Growing up in St. Louis, raised by a

07:22single mother, tell me about childhood and the role your mom played in success.

07:25My mom played the biggest role in my success. She's my best friend to this day.

07:31Self-proclaimed mama's boy. My mom was my superhero, right? She sacrificed

07:39everything to give her son opportunities to go chase his dream. She was the

07:47hardest-working person that I knew. She never made any excuses. She gave me

07:51unconditional love, but she was the toughest person on me. She kept

07:55me out of trouble. She made sure that my head was on my shoulders. I was always

07:59going in the right direction. I always did well in school. She was

08:05the sole reason why I'm the man that I am today. It sounds like when you reflect

08:11on that it was a little bit of a struggle getting through those times.

08:14Is that kind of the accurate way to describe it? Yeah, you know, my mom was 19

08:19when she had me. She was still a kid who just had a kid. She was a freshman in

08:24college and she was trying to make ends meet, right? Lived check to check her

08:28whole life growing up. Was almost evicted out of our house. You know, had to borrow

08:34food from our neighbors so I could eat and a lot of times she didn't, right? She

08:39just made sure I had something to eat. But, you know, going through tough times

08:42made our bond closer. I never was mad at my mom. I never was angry at her. You

08:49know, it was us against the world. So who had the brilliant idea to put a

08:52basketball in your hands and what was your, wow, I'm really good moment? What a

08:56brilliant idea. So my dad played basketball at St. Louis University. He

09:00played overseas. So he'll get the credit for putting the ball in my hand and

09:04being my early coach and trainer and things like that. But nobody like ever

09:11had to force me to go to practice, force me to work out. I just gravitated towards

09:16basketball every day. I didn't, I would rather play basketball at the park than

09:21go swimming with my friends or go to Six Flags or go to the carnival. At school

09:26during recess I always wanted to play basketball. Like I just, it was a genuine

09:32like love energy between me and the game from as early as I can remember. How old

09:38were you when you knew like, okay, I'm, I'm better than a lot of the kids I'm

09:41playing with. This might be something. Uh, then the kids I was playing with

09:46second grade, maybe, uh, things just came natural to me and, uh,

09:56things that I didn't understand, like my teammates or friends, like they weren't

10:01able to do. Um, the game of basketball just came very, like I could see

10:05something one time and like, oh, that makes sense. Or I know why they did that

10:09or I can go work on that. Um, and I was, I was grew up in a basketball family.

10:14My, my dad, um, my cousins, my uncles, like everybody played basketball, um,

10:21at some level and I was always around it. Bradley, Bill went to your high

10:25school. Um, you've spoken before about looking up to him. I'm just curious,

10:28you know, seeing him accomplish what he did before you got to it. You know, what

10:33was that like for you being a teenager? Yeah. So Brad was in a senior when I was

10:38in seventh grade, our high school and middle school was connected. He took me

10:41home every day at senior high school cause we live three minutes away from

10:46each other. Brad is a, is somebody that I'm very thankful for. He was the

10:54blueprint of like somebody that I saw every single day, what it was like to be

10:58a student athlete, what it was like to be a role model, what it was like to

11:03work hard, what it was like to, you know, he played in the McDonald's all

11:07American game, the Jordan brand classic game he played at the university of

11:11florida. He won Gatorade national player of the year and they came and

11:15presented him the trophy at our school. And I was seeing all of these things in

11:19real time and I would always ask questions. Um, I was seeing how he went

11:24about everything. He went to school for one year and then went to the NBA and

11:29we've been like this ever since. Uh, and it was just like, all right, I see what

11:36it takes. That's what I'm gonna do. And I just followed essentially everything

11:40that he did. Um, as I went through high school, you have another famous school

11:44connection in a Matthew could chuck who also got his first championship. I'm

11:48curious, what's the friendship with matt been like in your life? Uh, it's

11:52been cool. Me and Matt went to school from seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th

11:56grade. Uh, I don't claim to be like the hockey expert, but I know at some

12:01point he left our high school and went to go like play professionally or

12:05something like that. Whatever the progress is to go to the NHL, he did

12:09that. Um, but we have many classes together. We had, we worked on like

12:14projects together and we had gym class together. I knew his dad played in the

12:18NHL and I knew that he was, you know, aspiring to be a professional athlete as

12:22well. Um, and you know, great kid, great family. Uh, and it was just cool

12:29that in the same year we both won a championship in our respective sports.

12:34Obviously you weren't the last group, but one of the last groups play for

12:37Coach K at Duke. I'm curious what, you know, such a legendary coach in a

12:40university like Duke impacted your life and did for your career. Yeah, that was

12:44a, you know, choosing a school is a big decision at 18. Uh, well, I guess I was

12:5017 when I chose that. I was going there. Um, and it's one of the best

12:53choices I could have made. Uh, going to a program like that really prepared me

12:59for being in the spotlight coming to the Celtics, right? Like the best

13:04franchise in NBA and arguably the best program in college basketball. Uh, we

13:10were always on TV. There was always expectations. Um, it just prepared you

13:15for the next level. Um, Coach K is somebody I'm still very close with that.

13:19Uh, you know, I, I really felt that he cared about me as a person and really

13:25wanted to help me accomplish my dreams. And then finally, like a lot of one of

13:30my best friends I met at college and works now with the Celtics as one of the

13:35coaches, john shy or somebody I talked to every week, like, and then, you know,

13:42the brotherhood is real. Everybody that walked through that program, whether I

13:46played with them or they were there 20 years before me, whenever you see

13:50somebody that played for Duke, I guess always love flash forward to 2017. Uh,

13:56you go third overall in the drafts as a competitive guy. I'm sure, you know, you

13:59don't want to see people go ahead of you, but we can't deny how well it

14:02worked out that you arrived in Boston. So, you know, when you think back to

14:05that moment versus now, what kind of goes through your head about how the

14:08situation worked out? Yeah, there was a process. Um, early in the draft

14:13process, I thought I was the best player. I was like, I want to go number

14:16one. Uh, throughout the process, I realized that it was unlikely that I

14:21was gonna be the number one pick. You know, they have Markel folks and Lazo

14:25ball were kind of penciled in at one and two. Um, and the closer it got to

14:30the draft, I didn't care where I went. I was just like, man, I can smell that

14:35my dream is about to come true. I just want to hear my name called. I didn't

14:40that. And even that night, I didn't know where I was going. I just was ready

14:44to hear my name called. And that was like the single best moment of my life.

14:48It's just something that as early as I can remember, I was four years old. I

14:54knew I wanted to be in the NBA, and I worked towards that goal for 14 15

14:58years. And to hear your name called with your mom and your family being

15:03there. It's like the weight of the world was lifted off my shoulders. It

15:06was the ultimate. Like, we did it. We accomplished it. Uh, and it's been

15:12great ever since. So when you entered the league, you know, you were very

15:16natural scorer. But obviously, defense in the NBA is very much an acquired

15:20skill. Did you have to work extra hard to become the defender you are today?

15:24You know, one of the best in the league? Or was that something that came

15:27natural? So our team was very talented when we when I got drafted.

15:31Traditionally, when you go in the lottery or top three pick, you go to a

15:34team that is rebuilding or isn't that good. You know, the Celtics were number

15:39one seen the East a year before. So as I get drafted, we get Gordon Hayward,

15:43we get Kyrie Irving.

15:45So now I'm trying to figure out how do I fit in? Am I going to play? And I

15:50realized very early in training camp that if I want to get on the floor, I

15:54have to learn like I have to be a really good defender. Um, and that's

15:58really, really where it came from. Like I want to play, I want to be in the

16:01game. And a way to do that with these other superstars at the time when I was

16:06only 19 was don't be a liability on defense. Uh, and I figured it out

16:11quickly. A couple of years ago, you said your mom didn't let you spend your

16:15NBA money. And I'm curious, is that still the case? Are you still saving

16:18that that side of your money? Yeah. Um, that's still like 95% true. I've, you

16:25know, used some of that money. I purchased houses for like myself, my

16:31mom, my grandma, um, and things like that. But yeah, um, I get like everybody

16:37else. I get paid every two weeks and I have a savings account and I use that

16:41to invest in things like that. Um, and that still holds true. Um, I don't live

16:45off my NBA check. Is there any specific way you invested all those savings that

16:49have kind of come back to help you since then? Yeah. Um, and it's really

16:54grown

16:57for me in the last few years, I would say. Um, because I didn't, I didn't

17:00invest my first four years. Uh, mainly because I never learned about investing

17:07as a kid. Like me and my mom, she didn't have a savings account. We had

17:10nobody to teach us how to make your money work for yourself and, uh, things

17:16like that. And I've been very

17:20grateful and privileged to, um, find partners and find things that I'm

17:26interested in and that are organic to me that and companies that I've been

17:30able to invest in. So you have a very robust portfolio of sponsors and you

17:34know, that takes a lot when you're a professional athlete and have a very

17:37busy schedule and many athletes, frankly, they don't want to deal with

17:40that kind of stuff. So I'm curious, what's your motivation for having such

17:43a prolific off the court business? Uh, it came when I was a rookie when I was

17:49finding my agent, um, Jeff, actually down in Miami. Uh,

17:57maybe it was, it came from me and my mom talking about like, yo, we're going

18:01to live off your endorsements and, you know, save NBA checks. And I had an

18:06idea of what kind of lifestyle I wanted to live and I like nice things. Um, so

18:10I was like, well, we need to get to work. And I remember meeting with my

18:13agent, I was like, and at the time he had Kyrie Irving, uh, and that was it.

18:19Like he didn't have a big group of people. Um, I grew up only child. So

18:25naturally I kind of like, uh, having a lot of attention and, um, demanding at

18:31some time. So it really just talked to my agent was like, yo, I want to do all

18:36the things. I want to be the face. I want to be able to cover the two K one

18:41day. I want to be on commercials and cereal boxes and chips and, um, all

18:45those things. And so really, you know, it's a testament to my agent and my

18:51marketing team and, you know, the work that I've been able to, uh, do on the

18:56court to make those things come true. So your agent calls you up, he says,

19:00I've got this deal for you. What are you looking for in a potential brand

19:03partner? So there was a point where I was like, I just wouldn't do anything.

19:07Whoever calls, like we doing it, like whatever. And now, um, there has to, it

19:15has to be like something I want to do. Um, something that is organic. Um, I

19:20like working like with good partners and good brands and good people that want

19:24to help things that I'm doing. I want to be involved with the Jason Taylor

19:27foundation. I want to help the community where I'm from. Um, so it is, it's

19:33very more, it's much more like a detailed conversations now when I ask

19:39way more questions and, um, things like that than I used to when, you know,

19:43early in my career.

19:44So the signature shoe is like the gold standard of athlete marketing and, you

19:48know, the Jordan Tatum three just announced. And, um, you know, I like the

19:52kicks you got on there. Um, what does that mean to you? I mean, we talk about,

19:56you know, you dream to this and the signature shoe has to be a key piece of

19:59that.

20:00It sounds like I sound like a broken record, but it's like, man, it's a dream

20:04come true. Uh, I remember when I got the phone call from Jordan brand that I was

20:09getting my own signature shoe. It's just like, I always revert back to the

20:13moments when I was a kid of like, man, having a conversation with my mom, like

20:17mom, like one day I'm gonna win a championship one day, like we're going

20:21to go to the footlocker and kids going to buy my shoe. Um, and that's what like

20:25keeps me going. Like I remember those moments as a kid. Um, it's why I never

20:31take things for granted. That's why I enjoy being in the design process with

20:36the design of the shoe, working with the team, um, designing all the colorways,

20:40trying to tell stories through the shoe. And the best part is seeing it come to

20:44life. You're also a founder, obviously, you know, you started small winds, the

20:48candy company. I'm curious if you could take me through the origin story of

20:52Yeah. Uh, shout out to my partner, Tony. Uh, he used to work at Nike, so I knew

20:58him a little bit. He left Nike and he called me one day, came up with this

21:02idea that, uh, he was starting a candy company and he wanted to partner with

21:06me and kind of me be the face of it with my relationship with deuce. And it was

21:11all about starting like a healthier, better for you option for kids, right?

21:16Plant based gummies, uh, things that you may not have thought about before

21:21you had Children. Uh, and the way that diet and nutrition is transitioning

21:27that, uh, it was a no brainer for me, right? It was something that I love

21:33being a father. I love doing things for my son. I want to give him healthy and

21:37better options. Uh, and it's been super cool to see it gain traction and come

21:42to life and how we're going to have small wins bags at T. D. Garden and the

21:47game and they're on Amazon. You can go into walmart and grab them. Um, it has

21:52been a different process than like, you know, I'm used to dealing with shoes

21:56and things like that. But yeah, I'm starting a candy company has been fun.

22:00You think about everything together. What do you want your legacy to be? I

22:04want people to be inspired.

22:06Uh, I always revert back to, like Kobe is my favorite player. Los Angeles to

22:12ST Louis is, I don't know, 2000 miles away, whatever it is. Somebody that I

22:18never met. I only saw on TV and interviews, uh,

22:25from a distance inspired me to chase the dream, work as hard as I did

22:30sacrifice. Um, you know, a lot of things as a kid growing up to make it

22:37to where I am today.

22:39Like the concept of like that, like is is incredible to me. And I know the

22:46impact that it had. And for me, it's like, man, this is what I'm doing it

22:50for. Like, I'm busting my butt every day to be the best version of me that I

22:55can. And it's all about inspiring the next generation. I hope that even if

23:01there's only one person that I can impact in that same way, uh, that is

23:06looking up to me in the sense of, like, man, he is inspiring me to chase my

23:11dream and help change the world and give back and change this community. Uh,

23:18you know, I'll be okay with that. Jason, thank you for the time today. No, no.

23:25Mhm.

23:27Mhm.

23:29Mhm.

23:31Mhm.

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