After defeating the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night to win his first NBA Championship, Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum shared an old social media post from more than a decade ago, which quickly gained popularity. In the picture, a teenage Tatum is seen attempting to “follow back” from LeBron James, who was then a player for the Miami Heat. 

Tatum, who is now 26 years old, won the NBA Championship on Monday with the Boston Celtics.

After twelve years, one of the greatest basketball players of all time, James is closing off his NBA career. James has been the league’s face for the past 20 years, but Tatum is one of the new faces. When Tatum wrote the original tweet on April 13, 2012, he was a student in the eighth grade. 

A dozen years ago, Jayson Tatum shared a picture of himself with LeBron James on social media.

Tatum’s 2012 tweet read, “Follow back it’s Larry Hughes nephew from St. Louis and Abe and Rj Lil cousin and Justin Son Follow Back.” 

Hughes and James were Cleveland Cavaliers teammates from 2005 to 2008. James benefited from Hughes’ experience as one of the first NBA veterans to coach the current four-time NBA Champion. 

Tatum was a standout student at Chaminade High School in St. Louis before spending one season at Duke University playing for Mike Krzyzewski. 

In the 2003 NBA Draft, James was selected first overall, and 14 years later, Boston Celtics selected Tatum third overall. 

In the NBA, Tatum and James have faced off on multiple occasions. 

Both were selected to the American Olympic team for the 2024 Games in Paris, so this summer will mark their first time as teammates outside of an exhibition.