Can you believe Jayson Tatum is only 19 years old?
Tatum's age has been a running joke since the Duke product burst onto the scene for the Boston Celtics as a 19-year-old rookie. He's been outplaying his age ever since, but he is, in fact, getting older: Tatum turned 23 on Wednesday.
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Tatum's birthday prompted a wave of shout-outs on social media -- including one from Washington Wizards star and fellow St. Louis native Bradley Beal, who has known Tatum since they were kids.
"Love! My brotha 4L (for life)," Tatum responded to Beal on Instagram.
The Celtics forward, who recently earned his second NBA All-Star nod, hopes to play with Beal in Sunday's All-Star game and admitted being on the same team as his big brother figure would be "special."Â
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Tatum's comments raised a few eyebrows in Boston -- Beal has been viewed as a potential trade target playing on the lowly Washington Wizards -- but it would take a lot to bring Beal to the Celtics, as our Chris Forsberg recently explained.
Jaylen Brown will join Tatum in Atlanta this weekend, and the two All-Stars traded birthday pleasantries on social media, as well.
Celtics big man Grant Williams, meanwhile, continued the age joke in his tweet to his teammate.
Tatum also received birthday love on Twitter from a pair of former NBA players in Jamal Crawford and Duke alum Jay Williams.
Despite a recent rough patch, Tatum is enjoying the best season of his NBA career to date, averaging 24.9 points, 6.9 rebounds and 4.4 assists through 30 games. He clearly has the respect of his peers, too -- and has plenty of basketball ahead of him.