How Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum and the Florida Panthers’ Matthew Tkachuk became friends
It’s not every day that you get to watch your friend march toward winning a major sports championship while doing the exact same thing yourself.
With both men now on the cusp of winning a title in their respective sports, it’s quite something to consider that they’ve been friends since childhood. Of course the real question is, are they rooting for each other in their respective finals?
The story of Jayson Tatum & Matthew Tkachuk
It’s not uncommon for kids to dream of a career in professional sports Yet, what we don’t see so often is two children achieving their dreams and remaining friends throughout the process. Somehow that’s exactly the case with the Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum and the Florida Panthers’ forward Matthew Tkachuk. If you didn’t know, both men attended Chaminade College Preparatory School in St. Louis where they attended classes together and now at the age of 26 years old, they’re on the verge of leading their teams to a title.
In a video shared by ESPN on YouTube, both stars can be seen as adolescents in what appears to be a promotional video that was recorded for their school more than a decade ago. “Another reason I came to Chaminade is for great people and great fans,” Tatum can be seen saying to the camera before introducing his friend Tkachuk, albeit a much smaller version of the Panthers’ star. Of course, as we now know it would the video was filmed just a few months before Tkachuk left Chaminade to follow the footsteps of his father, NHL All-Star Keith Tkachuk, entering the U.S. National Team Development Program in Michigan.
Tatum on the other hand would go on to graduate from Chaminade after which he played for Duke for one year before being selected with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. With that, we fast forward to the present where both men stand one win away from a championship in their respective sports. Tatum and the Celtics currently lead the Dallas Mavericks 3-1 in the NBA Finals, while Tkachuk and the Panthers are 3-0 up over the Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup with Game 4 set to be played on Saturday night.
Jayson Tatum & Matthew Tkachuk are rooting for each other
To that end, it wasn’t surprising when Tatum sent his best wishes to his former classmate during media availability earlier this week. “I’m a big Matthew fan,” Tatum said. “I actually watched him win [Monday]. ...I’m extremely happy for him and his family and hopefully they win it all.” As you can probably guess Tkachuk expressed similar shared a similar sentiment last week.
“Yeah, it’s actually really cool when you think about it,” he said during the Stanley Cup Final Media Day. “Everyone from St. Louis, whether they were going to watch or not, with having both of us in, I’d say there’s a lot of people, especially the kids we grew up with and families and people who know us, they’re pulling for both teams. It’s super cool to have that support back home for not only myself, but for the Celtics as well. I know I’m watching the games. I watched the game last night. I think it would be unreal for Chaminade and all of St. Louis if we can both win it,” Tkachuk added.
You can catch Tatum and the Celtics in Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Monday night at 8:30 p.m. ET, while Tkachuk and the Panthers will be looking to sweep the Oilers on Saturday night at 8:00 p.m. ET. Can the two friends fulfill their childhood dreams? Be sure to follow with us to find out!