After a successful summer that featured an NBA championship and an Olympic gold medal, Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum was on top of the basketball world. However, Duke head coach Jon Scheyer wanted to remind him of his humble beginnings on Thursday.
Scheyer, who was a part of Duke's coaching staff when Tatum arrived at the prestigious university in 2016, bragged about beating the former Blue Devil in a game of one-on-one. He also claimed to defeat former Duke forward Amile Jefferson, who's now an assistant coach with the Celtics, via “The Brotherhood Podcast.”
“I want to be clear, I didn't just beat Jayson. I beat Amile Jefferson too,” Scheyer told current Duke guard Caleb Foster. “I beat both of them. I just want to be very clear. I want to get the record straight … It was a game to five. We played from their sweet spots … Here's the problem. Nobody knows their moves better than I do. So I just had to get a couple of stops and I had to pray I could score. And I did it.”
Could Jon Scheyer actually beat Jayson Tatum?
Many are familiar with Tatum's stardom, yet Scheyer was a great hooper as well. In his senior year of high school, he made headlines for scoring 21 points in 75 seconds while trying to single handedly will his team to a win. Scheyer came up short that game, but his impressive career at Glenbrook North High School in Illinois helped him become a Blue Devil.
In college, Scheyer was a reliable guard who could do it all. He capped off his stellar stint in Durham by winning an NCAA championship in 2010 against the Butler Bulldogs. Ironically, that Butler team was coached by Brad Stevens, Tatum's former head coach and current Celtics President of Basketball Operations.
The ties between Duke and Boston are strong, even when Scheyer is publicly calling out Tatum and Jefferson.
“Amile had one or two [points] and Jayson had three,” he recalled from their one-on-one matchups, which required five points to win. “You can ask either of them the score. And there's absolutely a rematch. And I'm willing, and I'll say this publicly, to have the whole thing televised. Rematch can happen anytime Jayson or Amile aren't afraid to lose to me.”
While Scheyer prepares for his third season as head coach, Tatum and Jefferson are getting ready to run it back in Beantown. As Boston's go-to guy, Tatum led the Celtics in playoff points, rebounds, and assists en route to his first ring. On the sidelines, Jefferson enjoyed his first season as an assistant coach in the NBA and worked closely with Tatum, his close friend and former Duke teammate.
A rematch might be difficult to set up, as the Blue Devils will be on the hunt for their first NCAA title since 2015 (when Jefferson was on the team) and the Celtics will be busy trying to secure back-to-back championships, something the storied franchise hasn't done in over five decades.
How did Jayson Tatum respond to Jon Scheyer's remarks?
Despite the craziness of the NBA season, Tatum is eager for a rematch against Scheyer. His only request is that his fellow Blue Devil wears some protective eyewear, as Scheyer donned goggles for a large portion of his overseas career due to a brutal eye injury.
“I love it,” Tatum said on X in response to Scheyer's challenge. “Just make sure you wear them damn goggles, don't want no excuses.”
Duke officially starts its 2024-25 campaign on November 5 against the University of Maine, which isn't too far from the Celtics' stomping grounds. Meanwhile, the C's kick off the 2024-25 NBA season on October 22 versus the New York Knicks.