Bradley Beal praises fellow St. Louis native Jayson Tatum


Celtics rookie Jayson Tatum is a longtime friend of Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal, but now that Tatum is playing in the pros for a rival team, their relationship has changed a bit. On draft day, Beal fired off a tweet congratulating Tatum after he was selected with the third overall pick, but warned him that he won't receive any sympathy from his old friend on the court.


Though there's a five year age gap between them, Beal and Tatum both grew up in St. Louis and attended Chaminade College Preparatory School, and Beal has been watching Tatum for years. Now that Tatum is shooting a league-leading 50% from beyond the arc and averaging 14 points despite only putting up 9.2 shot attempts per game, Beal is happy to witness the 19-year old's success but is not surprised with his level of production.

Many have taken note of Tatum's remarkable poise and calmness, but after the Wizards' Christmas day victory in Boston, Beal said that he encourages Tatum to be a "straight-up killa" and ensured that he will one day be "a star in this league."

Take a look at the entirety of Beal's comments below.



Photo credit: Nicolaus Czarnecki
Follow Brendan at @brendansanders0
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