It was an emotional night time for the Illawarra Hawks on Sunday, profitable their first NBL title in 24 years after toppling Melbourne United within the sport 5 decider.
And maybe the added increase the gamers wanted got here from Boston Celtics famous person Jayson Tatum, who supplied his help to the Aussie staff pre-game.
Tatum’s father Justin coaches the facet and woke as much as a video message from his son, which he opted to share along with his squad earlier than the do-or-die sport.
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Hawks coach Justin Tatum poses with the NBL championship trophy. Getty
Talking to media within the midst of the championship celebrations, the 46-year-old defined the affect having one of many NBA’s most iconic franchises of their nook.
“I informed my guys, I awoke this morning to a video,” Tatum mentioned.
“He [Jayson] despatched a video to my staff and mentioned ‘pops, ship this to your group’.
“It was a reassurance to my group about what they need to probably really feel and how one can win a sport seven for them, 5 for us.
“He despatched a help message to my group and I feel that enlightened them quite a bit.
“The entire 2023/24 Boston Celtics are about to observe our sport proper now … if these guys can do it, we will do it.
“Listening to from him and him having despatched that message on his personal was unbelievable. It was significant to my gamers as properly.”
Jayson Tatum. Getty
Tatum is without doubt one of the largest stars in all of basketball, having led the Celtics to their first championship in additional than 15 years final season.
The 27-year-old additionally received a gold medal for USA at each the Tokyo and Paris Olympics.
Justin took over as Hawks head coach in 2023 and has lifted them from the NBL cellar to a title in a brief area of time.
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