The defining moment of the NBA Finals was not Boston holding up another championship trophy. It wasn't even Jaylen Brown turning years of unrelenting trade rumors into the Finals MVP after the Celtics downed the Dallas Mavericks 4-1 win it all for an NBA record 18th time. It was Jayson Tatum crying.
Tatum's son, Deuce, finding and happily hugging his father. And the duo sharing a sweet on-court embrace in a 25-second video that went viral in the best possible way. "Every father is getting emotional watching this," one fan tweeted.
"Such a cool moment." "What a beautiful moment captured forever!" a second fan posted. "This man deserves this," a third fan wrote.
"Lets goooo!" "I hate the Celtics but this is awesome," a fourth fan said. Deuce is officially known as Jayson Tatum Jr. and is a familiar face around the Celtics.
For Tatum, winning it all with Boston was a long time coming. Like Brown, the No. 3 overall pick of the 2017 NBA Draft was also forced to overcome doubt, critics and trade rumors.
After painfully falling short in multiple playoff runs, Tatum recorded game highs in points (31) and assists (11) in the Game 5 title-clincher to deliver Boston its first NBA championship since the Big Four of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo won it all in 2008. Tatum's first world championship also allowed him to create a once-in a-lifetime moment with Deuce, and reflect on the power of fatherhood. Tatum acknowledged before Game 5 that he initially was reluctan.
