Jayson Tatum has reportedly signed a historic deal in the NBA. According to the Bleacher Report, Tatum and the Boston Celtics have agreed to a five-year $315 million contract extension. The deal is said to be the largest contract in NBA history, surpassing his previous contract in November 2020, a five-year, $195 million max extension.
Before Tatum’s contract, Boston Celtics player Jaylen Brown held the record for the richest contract in the history of the NBA. He signed a five-year supermax contract extension that ends in 2029 and will pay him up to $304 million.
After inking the deal, Brown was asked about what he intended to do with the generational wealth he earned with the contract. He responded by saying he wanted to bring Black Wall Street to Boston in a bid to attack wealth disparity.
Tatum’s new payday will be official on Jul 6, 2024, and will keep him at Celtics through to the 2029-30 season with a player option. Also, it “puts Boston on the hook for over $600 million committed to just Tatum and Brown alone — not accounting for the multi-year extensions granted to fellow Celtics starters Kristaps Porzingis (two years, $60 million), Jrue Holiday (four years, $135 million) and Derrick White (four years, $126 million)”, according to NESN.
Tatum has averaged 26.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, 4.9 assists, and shot 47% from the field. His impressive performance earned him All-NBA First Team honors for the third consecutive season.
In a playoff run, the numbers grew to 25 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 6.3 assists per game. The run also saw him eclipse 30 points six times, including 31 in their championship-clinching Game 5 win against the Dallas Mavericks.
“All the sacrifice was worth it. I’m so thankful to have been in the positions that I was growing up,” he said, according to CBS News. “Thankful for my mom. Thankful for my dad introducing me to basketball. My grandmother who helped raise me. All my friends and family that have supported me, every coach, every teammate that I’ve had. There’s a lot of people that have had a hand in the success of Jayson Tatum. So I guess in this moment, I’m just very thankful for everybody that supported me in the highest of moments and in the lowest of moments. I’m very, very appreciative of that.”
Also, he will aspire to win more laurels when he joins the U.S. men’s basketball team when it attempts to capture its fifth consecutive gold medal. Tatum had previously won a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics.
