Jayson Tatum is one of the NBA’s most promising young talents. At only 25 years old, he is already a superstar.

Seemingly not even in his prime yet, the Boston Celtics forward led his team to the NBA Finals last year. He has managed to carry that momentum into this season, averaging 32.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game.

When Tatum isn’t taking care of business on the court, he spends time with his four-year-old son, Deuce, who has become his dad’s sidekick. The two are often seen going through warmups together before Deuce takes his seat courtside during NBA games.

Recently, Tatum held an interview with Graham Bensinger at an outdoor court at his mom’s house. Among the main topics discussed were his son and basketball. Tatum said that he doesn’t hold back on Deuce and even talks trash to him:

“Sometimes we get into it because he doesn’t like to listen,” Tatum said. “I tell him, ‘Your dad is one of the best basketball players in the world, and he thinks he’s got it all figured out.'”
The three-time All-Star also said he’s told his son that he was better than him at his age.

As Deuce gets older, he is starting to develop his own likes and interests. Luckily for Jayson Tatum, one of them is basketball. It’s apparent the two are already extremely close, but the game has allowed them to share a tighter bond.

“It’s fun, because he’s getting to that age where, voulantarily, he wants to come out here,” Tatum said. “Everybody asks if he’s going to play basketball, but I’m not going to force it on him.”Naturally, him being at all the games, he tells me he wants to come play. That’s like music to my ears.”

There are already a large number of father-son duos in the NBA, and the Tatums could be slowly entering the mix. Even though Deuce is only 4, he has become a popular figure among the Boston Celtics and their fans. Along with always being courtside, he is regularly in the locker room helping pump up the team.

Seeing how Deuce is always at his hip, it’s clear how much it means to the Celtics forward to have his son around during his NBA journey. He made endless sacrifices in life to get where he is, and now he gets to soak in the benefits of that hard work with his first-born child.

Judging on how invested he is in the game now, it might not be long before Deuce is climbing up the ranks to follow in his father’s footsteps.