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Boston Celtics star Kyrie Irving was named the honorary coach for the USA in the Rising Stars Challenge during All-Star Weekend, meaning he will actually get the chance to coach his teammate: Jayson Tatum.
Jayson Tatum is in his second year in the league, so he is eligible to participate in the event, and because he is, well, American, he will be playing for the USA in the game.
As for Tatum's thoughts on being coached by Irving? The kid is digging it:
“It will be pretty cool,” said Tatum, via Jay King of The Athletic. “… He’s probably going to let me do whatever I want.”
And I don't see why Kyrie wouldn't.
The game is a show, after all, and Tatum is one of the smoothest young scorers we have in the league today.
Going into Wednesday night, Tatum was averaging 16.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists over 31.1 minutes per game while shooting 44.8 percent from the floor, 38.1 percent from 3-point range and 85.5 percent from the free-throw line.
The 20-year-old, who played his collegiate basketball at Duke University, was originally selected by the Celtics with the third overall pick of the 2017 NBA Draft.
Ironically enough, Tatum was one of the pieces the Cleveland Cavaliers originally wanted in return for Irving when Boston traded for the floor general during the summer of 2017, but the Cs refused to part with their young forward.
That proved to be a wise decision, as Tatum had a terrific rookie campaign last year — one which was capped by a poster dunk on LeBron James in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
