Jayson Tatum has accomplished quite a bit over the course of his basketball career so far. The 26-year-old Boston Celtics star is not only an NBA champion but also a six-time All-Star, an All-Star game MVP and two-time Olympic Gold medalist. Despite his status though, even the famous athlete finds himself getting overwhelmed in the presence of sports greatness. That was the case during one of his earliest encounters with NBA GOAT Michael Jordan, during which he embarrassed himself, in a manner that may make some people cringe.
An athlete with a number of endorsements, the St. Louis native is a member of the Jordan Brand family. With that, Jayson Tatum is privy to a few perks, including some occasional meetings with His Airness. Tatum recently appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and discussed his dealings with MJ. The former Duke phenom recalled exactly when he signed with the Nike-owned company and how he came to meet the legendary Chicago Bull:
I met MJ in 2019, when I first was introduced to the brand and I first signed over, and I met him in Paris. … It was like a Jordan Brand retreat. They had a bunch of athletes – it was a big event that they used to do in the summer before COVID. It was my first introduction to everybody on the team, and it was like a ‘welcome to the family moment.’
The notion of rubbing shoulders with Michael Jordan, fellow athletes and corporate bigwigs in the City of Lights sounds cool. However, it didn’t all go as smoothly as Jayson Tatum would’ve liked. During the interview, which is on YouTube, Jimmy Kimmel opined that the event had to be a “big deal” for Tatum. The athlete then chimed in, saying, “until I ruined it.” With that, he explained that he caused an accident of sorts while trying to engage with Jordan during the trip:
So the same day I met [MJ] and I announced that I was signing to Jordan Brand, later that evening, they had a dinner for all the athletes. And I walk in, I was still — I think I’d just turned 21. It was MJ, his wife and Spike Lee, he was sitting at the table, and my table was like over there, and I just wanted to go introduce myself again and sit down. I was so nervous, my hands were shaking, and I go to shake his hand and I knock over his wine glass. And I spill it everywhere, and I break the glass, and I’m speechless. And he was super cool about it, because that’s probably happened to him a thousand times. And that’s something we laugh about to this day.
Michael Jordan commands a considerable amount of respect, given his accomplishments on and off the basketball court. During his career, he led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA championships and won a plethora of other accolades. Jordan was feared on the court, as even Shaq was “terrified” of him during his prime. He also garnered plenty of respect from his peers, including Magic Johnson, who called him the "strongest" athlete he’d ever seen. Today, Jordan’s mere presence seems to leave people shook, even current athletes. (When Olympic medalist Jordan Chiles received a text from him, she thought she was being pranked.
So it’s understandable that Jayson Tatum would be nervous during one of his earliest interactions with the five-time NBA MVP. I can’t help but love that the Space Jam star was gracious about the spilled wine and that both he and Tatum can now joke about that. Quite frankly, a fun story like this one is a great reminder that in many respects, celebrities are just like us. I only hope that I don’t have a similar mishap if I happen to be in the presence of someone like MJ.
You can learn more about Michael Jordan’s career by streaming The Last Dance using a Netflix subscription. Also, with that same membership, you can get a sense of Jayson Tatum’s mentality by checking out Starting 5.
