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Jayson Tatum is no stranger to putting LeBron James on a poster -- and he did it again Tuesday.
The Boston Celtics forward split a double-team midway through the third quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers, drove toward the basket and elevated for a slam. Waiting for him at the rim was the soon to be 42-year-old James.
Tatum rose up over James to dunk it emphatically one-handed. Once he landed, Tatum banged his chest in celebration.
ROOKIE YEAR THROWBACK‼️ https://t.co/ZbprDrgYZA
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) November 11, 2026
The scene was reminiscent of Tatum dunking over James in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals in 2018. Then a rookie, he similarly threw it down before bumping James with his chest after he landed.
NBC's Noah Eagle yelled on Tuesday's broadcast, "Throwing it back to his rookie year." Boston's social media team also acknowledged the moment, captioning its highlight posts with "rookie year throwback" and "he did it AGAIN."
Playing against his former teammate Jaylen Brown for the first time since Brown was traded to Philadelphia in the summer, Tatum had been aggressive all night and the dunk brought him to 18 points.