Credits: USA Today Sports and Twitter

When the Boston Celtics drafted Jayson Tatum in 2017, as the third pick in the NBA draft, he was still in college and was living with his mother, Brandy Cole. As per Tatum, she would take him to her classes and teach him the importance of behaving as the circumstances demand.

In an interview with GQ in 2018, the Celtics star talked about how being with his mother translated into his on-court demeanour and poise.

“I knew when I was in the classroom I gotta be quiet. And if I didn’t, she was gonna take me to the bathroom and whoop me in front of everybody.”

The player revealed that his mother lived in the same apartment with his stepdad three floors above during his rookie season. Her mother would help him with his laundry and cook for him. She also helped Tatum with his chores while he was out playing on the basketball court.

“I spend most of my time up there in their apartment, ’cause there’s always food up there. I don’t have anything to eat in my house but chips and Gatorade. And when I’m gone or away for a long time, she’ll do my laundry or clean up the house. If I come back from a road trip and we get back, like, three in the morning, she’ll cook and leave a plate in my refrigerator.”

Tatum, who was making 5.6 million dollars at the moment, preferred the comfort of home, as many would do. He was just eighteen years old at the time and still a young teenager trying to make it big in the biggest basketball league in the world. He would take any help he got.

Jayson Tatum talks about attending classes with his mother

Brandy Cole had just graduated from high school when she found out that she was pregnant with Jayson Tatum. She would forego her scholarship to join a local college and raise her child while also working part-time jobs. The woman had no option but to take the NBA player to her classes. A young Tatum, out of place, used to sit at the back quietly and play video games or read books.

In an essay for ‘The Players Tribune‘, the young player talked about the experience of attending college classes while being a kid. Tatum specifically remembers the lectures and says “I kept quiet, listening in here and there — to me, most of her professors seemed boring and talked a lot.” However, the player handled the situation without troubling her mother and understood that it was something she needed to do.