Jayson Tatum grew up idolizing Kobe Bryant and dreaming of wearing the iconic Los Angeles Lakers jersey. However, when the 2017 NBA Draft arrived, Tatum claims the Lakers, led by then-President of Basketball Operations Magic Johnson, showed no interest, paving the way for the Boston Celtics to select him.
In a recent interview on SiriusXM NBA Radio, Magic Johnson addressed Tatum’s comments head-on, setting the record straight about why the Lakers passed on him.
“I wanted to address something because I didn’t want us to go without addressing what Jayson Tatum said, and I wanted to make sure I address it first on your show, Eddie,” Johnson began. “When he said that he was upset that the Lakers didn’t, I think, draft him or take a look at him — no, we took a look at him. I was the President.”
However, Johnson pointed to a logjam at the forward position as the main reason they didn’t pick Tatum. “The problem was, Eddie, we were top-heavy in forwards — I couldn’t take him,” Johnson explained. “We had Brandon Ingram, who was only in his second year, Julius Randle, and Larry Nance Jr., so I already had too many forwards.“
“There were already problems because they all wanted to play, and so if I took another forward,we would never see this Tatum if he had ended up with the Lakers,” Johnson continued. “Because he would’ve been sitting on that bench since we already had Julius and Brandon Ingram starting.”
Johnson on Tatum’s agent
Johnson also shed light on Tatum’s pre-draft process, revealing that his agent had no interest in arranging a Lakers workout. “I wanted to address that and let him know yes, we looked at him. But his agent also didn’t want us to work him out because he didn’t want him to end up with the Lakers, knowing we were already top-heavy with forwards,” Johnson explained.
“See, I was there, so I can tell Jayson what really happened,” he added. “His agent didn’t want him to work out for us because he knew it wasn’t a good situation since we already had too many forwards.”
What did Jayson Tatum say?
On the Club 520 Podcast with Jeff Teague, Tatum opened up about his disappointment at not landing with the Lakers, recalling how the draft process unfolded.
“I grew up a Kobe fan. I always wanted to play for the Lakers,” Tatum revealed. “For them to have the No. 2 pick [in the 2017 NBA Draft], it wasn’t even a thought that I was going to get drafted (by them). That was kinda devastating. So, I never worked out for the Lakers. They never came to watch me work out.”
Tatum also admitted he briefly considered joining the Phoenix Suns before his college coach, Mike Krzyzewski, convinced him to reconsider Boston’s interest. “I remember Coach K was like, ‘Boston wants you for a second workout; you should go.’ I’m like, ‘They just came off the Eastern Conference Finals,’” Tatum said.
“They got a veteran team. I’m probably not going to play,” Tatum recounted. “And he was raving about Brad Stevens, ‘Brad is one of the best coaches in the league.’ I went to Boston three days before the draft for another workout. The rest is history, and it all worked out.”