Boston Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum has above-the-rim ambitions for his business and his place in the NBA aristocracy—and with LeBron James nearing the end of an extraordinary career, he has a chance to snatch the crown.
By Justin Birnbaum, Forbes Staff
When Jayson Tatum opened a franchise location with restaurant chain Everbowl in October, his son, Deuce, didn’t quite understand what it meant. “How are you going to work here and play basketball?” the Boston Celtics’ star forward recalls his 7-year-old asking. “Well, Daddy’s not actually going to serve açaí bowls,” Tatum replied. “I just opened it.”
Other than getting behind the counter, however, Tatum has done just about everything possible off the court since turning pro in 2017. He has partnerships with more than 10 companies, including Gatorade, New Era and SoFi, and has a signature shoe deal with Nike’s Jordan Brand. He cofounded candy maker Enjoy Small Wins and is reportedly involved in a bid to bring a WNBA expansion team to his hometown, St. Louis. This year alone, Tatum published a children’s book, starred in Netflix’s documentary series Starting 5 and landed on the cover of video game NBA 2K25. In total, Forbes estimates the 26-year-old superstar—recently honored as a member of the 2025 Forbes 30 Under 30 list in the sports category—earns $13 million annually before taxes and agent fees from this robust collection of business endeavors.
Amid all of that, Tatum has found a little time to play some basketball, too. Last season—his seventh in the NBA—he was named an All-Star for the fifth time while leading the Celtics to the championship, the franchise’s league-record 18th. Boston rewarded him almost immediately, signing Tatum to a five-year, $314 million contract extension in July, and he capped off the summer by winning his second Olympic gold medal with Team USA in Paris.
That kind of run has given Tatum an air of invincibility. Now, he is thinking about immortality.
“You realize the company that you put yourself in when you win a championship, especially at the age of 26—they look at you differently, speak about you differently, they put you in different conversations with the guys that you looked up to,” says Tatum, who has spoken publicly about his desire to be one of the faces of the NBA. “Winning one kind of gets you in the door.”
He knows that he will need more if he wants to get to the level of two of those players he admires: the Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James and the Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry, who have eight rings between them. They also lead the list of the NBA’s highest-paid players this season with an estimated $128.7 million and $105.8 million in total pretax earnings, respectively, and James was the first active athlete ever to be named a billionaire by Forbes, in 2022.
“Those guys have carried the torch or been at the forefront of that for a very, very long time, and they’re definitely tough acts to follow,” Tatum says. “I think the next generation in front of you always inspired you to go chase and do what they did, and that’s exactly what LeBron and Steph have done for people like myself.”
Whatever respect he has for his elders, Tatum is raising his game at an opportune time. Curry is 36 while James turns 40 on Monday and is in the midst of his 22nd NBA season. The league could certainly use a big new star.
“I think the NBA is thinking about who can be the next person who’s not just a great player but somebody who really resonates with the larger, wider group of sports fans,” says John Fortunato, a sports media professor at Fordham University.
Tatum’s backstory makes him easy to root for. He was raised in St. Louis by a single mother, Brandy Cole, who gave birth at 19. They struggled to make ends meet: Tatum remembers almost being evicted from their home and his mom sometimes skipping meals just so he could eat.
He became aware of his talent as early as the second grade, and as he grew up, he didn’t have to look far for a role model: When he arrived at Chaminade College Preparatory School as a seventh grader, future NBA All-Star Bradley Beal was the basketball team’s senior captain. Tatum went on to star for a season at Duke University, minting him as the third overall pick of the 2017 NBA draft.
Shawn Hubbard for Forbes
When it became apparent that Tatum was headed for the pros, Cole, who oversees her son’s finances to this day, came up with a plan to ensure the family’s financial security, instructing him to save every penny of his game checks. “I agreed with it, and then I quickly realized that I like nice things, so I needed to get some more deals off the court,” Tatum says.
From commercials to cereal boxes and bags of chips, nothing was off limits. He liked the attention, so he didn’t mind dedicating days off to meetings, photo and video shoots, fittings, interviews or autograph signings.
Not every partnership was a fit, though. Tatum is reluctant to “throw anybody under the bus,” but he remembers some of the deals early in his career lacked an organic connection. “They weren’t bad partners or bad deals,” Tatum says. “Maybe it’s a product, like alcohol or something like that, that I just never drank before in my life. But I just wanted to get myself out there more.”
The experiences taught Tatum to be more selective, and to seek out authentic relationships. In some cases, the partnerships that didn’t last ended up adding value in other ways. During his time with Nike—which he eventually “left” for a signature shoe deal at the company’s Jordan Brand in 2019—Tatum met Tony Grosso. Years later, after Grosso left the apparel giant to pursue his own projects, he brought Tatum an exciting opportunity.
Grosso had met with a company in Grand Rapids, Michigan, that was producing sugar-free candy, and he loved the product. But given that it was aimed at the dental industry, he couldn’t figure out how to bring it to scale. Tatum, who wanted a healthier snack option for his son, gave Grosso his inspiration.
With the blessing of Tatum’s agents and his mother, the pair formed Enjoy Small Wins in 2021, with their low-in-sugar candy hitting the market two years later. Tatum owns 25% of the parent company while Grosso led an investor group that controls the other 75%. (Deuce, Tatum’s son, is listed as CEO on the brand’s website.)
Trophy Life: Tatum delivered the Celtics' 18th championship in June. Two weeks later, they rewarded him with a five-year, $314 million contract extension.
Maddie Malhotra/Getty ImagesThe brand has about $2 million invested to date and has landed shelf space in Walmart stores and at TD Garden, the Celtics’ home arena, as well as CVS locations in a more recent deal. And as part of his partnership with Everbowl, which will eventually see him own five franchises, Tatum negotiated that the chain would carry Enjoy Small Wins candy in stores across the country.
“I think that’s part of Jayson’s growth, too,” Grosso says. “We’re trying to figure out how we leverage all of Jayson’s relationships to drive all of Jayson’s relationships.”
As crowded as his off-court life has become, especially after he added deals this year with luxury brand Coach and insurance company Amica, Tatum stresses that basketball is still his top priority. He notes that all of the athletes he admires for their business success—not only James and Curry but also Serena Williams and Tiger Woods—have one thing in common: sustained dominance of their sports. And Tatum is in a position to keep dominating, with the Celtics off to a 23-8 start as they chase their first repeat championship since 1969.
When the time is right, Tatum fully intends to expand his business. But he’s in no rush.
“I’ve made more money than I ever thought was possible,” Tatum says. “I am able to take care of my kids, my family, my grandparents, my dad—like, everybody. And there was a time where that’s all I wanted to do. So now it’s just about being patient, hitting singles and just keep finding the right opportunities for me.”
