Celtics’ Jayson Tatum, Panthers’ Matthew Tkachuk Were Once High School Classmates

The two stars have known each other for a long time, dating all the way back to high school.

The Celtics will look to even up the Eastern Conference finals on Saturday, set to battle the Heat in Game 6. Ahead of the clash, TNT’s Inside the NBA crew invited Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk to the desk to discuss his team’s run to the Stanley Cup Finals.

As it turns out, two of the stars of the respective conference finals of each sport go way back. During the segment, Tkachuk revealed that he and Boston star Jayson Tatum actually attended the same high school and were even members of the same gym class.

Tatum and Tkachuk both attended Chaminade College Preparatory School in Creve Coeur, Mo., nearby Saint Louis.

The segment included an old video of a young Tatum and Tkachuk, during which the NBA star discusses why he chose to attend school at Chaminade. 

Matthew Tkachuk and Jayson Tatum really had gym class together in high school 😮 pic.twitter.com/HwOreGtAmK

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 28, 2023

“That clip comes up probably a few times a year when me and him are doing well. It’s crazy that we were in the same gym class for all those years and it’s cool to say that we’re both representing Chaminade,” said Tkachuk.

Tatum flourished at the school, going on to win Gatorade’s National Player of the Year award in his senior year in 2016. Tatum graduated and played basketball at Duke before becoming the No. 3 pick in the 2017 NBA draft.

Tkachuk only spent one year of his high school tenure at Chaminade, before leaving the school to join the U.S. National Development Team to further his pursuit of hockey stardom, which he has since attained.

It’s safe to say that the two athletes’ different paths to the big leagues worked out.