The careers of Phoenix Suns star Bradley Beal and Boston Celtics stalwart Jayson Tatum will forever be intertwined even though they entered the NBA five years apart. Beal and Tatum are close friends from childhood, growing together in St. Louis (even going together to the same high school), and now, they have become two of the best pure scorers in the NBA.
Even though the paths their respective careers have taken have been vastly different (Beal hasn't played for a legitimate contending team while Tatum, for almost every year of his career, has competed for the title with the Celtics), their bond has only grown deeper. In fact, the Suns star revealed just how close Tatum is with his three sons and how the Celtics forward, despite being one of the more famous people on the planet, still takes his time to check up on Beal and his family.
“He’s a beyond busy superstar and he makes time and just takes a little moment to say what’s up to my boys. He spends time with them to shoot hoops with ’em. It doesn’t matter. He goes above and beyond, man, for the kids. Jay loves the kids and I’m happy they have a good role model like that,” Beal told Marc J. Spears of Andscape.
There are some friends whom we only have for a season, but some stick closer than a brother and are there for a lifetime. Jayson Tatum is clearly the latter for Bradley Beal, as there might be nothing that could ever come between the Suns guard's friendship with the 26-year ols forward.
Bradley Beal and Jayson Tatum's friendship
Bradley Beal and Jayson Tatum, both hailing from St. Louis, attended Chaminade High School, with Beal graduating from the class of 2012 and Tatum from 2017. In fact, just to cement the connection between the two, once upon a time, Beal's mother was the physical education teacher of Tatum's mom.
Tatum and Beal never shared the court in high school, but the Celtics star played for the Suns guard's AAU team, strengthening their bond even further. The Celtics star called Beal the “perfect role model”, which goes to show how important the two have been to one another.
“He’s a great brother to me and it’s awesome to see him grow up and mature into fatherhood and to embrace that role. And then just his ability to just be loving, to have a life outside of basketball,” Beal added.
Since growing up in the same neighborhood, Beal has embraced the big brother role for Tatum, rooting for his success wherever he goes. The two could have had the opportunity to play together for Team USA back in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but alas, the Suns guard contracted COVID-19, knocking him out of action.
The road ahead for Beal and the Suns
Unlike Jayson Tatum and the Celtics, who are on course to clinch homecourt advantage for the entire playoffs, Bradley Beal and the Suns are still in a dogfight for playoff positioning in the Western Conference. The Suns embark on their most difficult stretch of the season, beginning a 10-game journey against above .500 teams — a slew of games that could end up defining their season.
Beal has endured an injury-riddled 2023-24 season. He has just suited up in 44 games this season due to a myriad of injuries, and he's averaging the worst numbers of his career since the 2015-16 season, due in large part to him being the third option in Phoenix.
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