Over the past few weeks, Jayson Tatum has notably made the rounds with his new picture book, Baby Dunks-A-Lot. He touted it on Good Morning America, on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, in bookstores in New York City, and even in towns across Massachusetts.
It’s the latest accomplishment in a summer of success that began with an NBA championship, was punctuated by a $314 supermax contract extension, an NBA2K cover (a childhood dream), and, of course, an Olympic gold medal.
The book, however, might be his most personal achievement. It features a baby who can dunk and ultimately becomes a member of a professional basketball team — while otherwise behaving like a baby and requiring nap time. It includes cameos from a slew of NBA players including Grant Williams, Jimmy Butler, Bradley Beal and others — all of whom were thrilled to be featured.
And, while obviously not completely based on true events, the story is inspired by Tatum’s relationship with his son Deuce, who was born in the middle of Tatum’s rookie season and has famously grown up around the team.
How did it all come to be?
The story begins with Sam Apple, a longtime author and huge basketball fan who approached Tatum’s team with a concept for a picture book the featured a kid hanging out around a basketball team. Tatum was all in, excited at the concept, and the two got to work, regularly meeting on Zoom as they collaborated on the final product.
“It was kind of based on the relationship that I have with my son,” Tatum said on CBS earlier this month, as part of the press tour. “And, like many parents around the world who read children’s books to their kids at nighttime, that’s just something that we did that was part of our routine. To share a piece of our routine and story with the rest of the world, I was super excited about it.”
Tatum loved the idea of drawing inspiration from Deuce’s experience with the Celtics, a dynamic that’s been well-chronicled as Deuce has become a fan favorite.
“That’s not to say that Baby Dunks-a-Lot is Deuce by any means, but the idea of a kid being around an NBA team is really Jayson’s story in a lot of ways,” Apple said.
Apple said that Tatum took the editing process seriously, oftentimes sending back specific feedback regarding details in the illustrations or text.
“A lot of people can talk about what it’s like to have Jayson Tatum play lockdown defense on you, and how tough that is, but not many people can talk about what it’s like to be edited by Jayson Tatum,” Apple said. “I got some tough edits back.”
Jayson Tatum on the diversity represented in his new picture book, Baby Dunks-a-Lot:
“Representation was super important when creating this book. Being organic and showing Black and Brown children, and that it’s possible to be in books.”
(Via @CBSMornings) pic.twitter.com/GBoTXOCLLM
— Noa Dalzell (@NoaDalzell) September 10, 2024
Deuce got involved in the process too. helping Tatum select illustrator Parker-Nia Gordon from a slew of potential artists.
“Deuce, behind the scenes, was actually playing a role in commenting on the illustrations and helping pick the illustrator,” Apple said.
Working with a professional athlete came with its own learning curve, Apple told CelticsBlog.
“On our very first Zoom call, I was chatting with Jayson about the book, and he said some really nice things, but I could only see him from the neck up and his facial expression didn’t seem all that positive,” Apple said. “So, I was a little nervous. And then I was made aware that he was actually sitting in an ice bath.”
Putting the book together was a process that spanned many months and more calls, but the two also got to meet on a handful of occasions. Apple lives in Philadelphia, and when the Celtics played the Philadelphia 76ers last season, they finally met in person. Apple said he grew up a Houston Rockets fan, but that he now roots for the Celtics, too.
“He met my whole family, and the kids were so thrilled about that,” Apple said. “He’s just a really nice, funny guy. I think he’s got a really good sense of humor.”
A sequel is already in the works, and the reception has been overwhelmingly positive. And, fittingly, Tatum has made sure to share the love and the credit.
“I‘ve been really touched and honored that in many of his interviews, the first thing he says is, ‘I want to get a shoutout to my co-author,’” Apple said. “A lot of athletes would make the co-author sort of invisible. And he could have done that — I would have understood. But, he’s really been calling me out and giving me credit. And it’s really nice to be able to share in that. So, you can imagine it’s such a thrill for my kids to see me up there. So, it’s just been really perfect. I’m so happy with how it all came together.”
