Jayson Tatum and Matthew Tkachuk Recreate Their Viral Childhood School Bus Photo

NBA star Jayson Tatum and NHL player Matthew Tkachuk, who are originally from St. Louis, they reunited to recreate a childhood photo.

Tkachuk, the forward of the Florida Panthers, posed with Tatum, the guard of the Boston Celtics, in new photo published by St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday, August 18. The picture was taken during the Cardinals home game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Busch Stadium.

In the original photo, Tatum, now 26, smiles in a bright orange T-shirt to the right of Tkachuk, also now 26, who looks seriously into the camera in his blue-striped polo shirt. Meanwhile, their classmate Jacob Bai peeks in the back as they all sit together on their school bus.

Jayson Tatum shares throwback photo with childhood teammate Matthew Tkachuk to celebrate their NBA and NHL titles

“How it started ➡️ How it goes,” read the MLB team’s post on X (formerly Twitter). “Jayson Tatum and Matthew Tkachuk teamed up again with childhood classmate Jacob B. to recreate their famous stadium bus photo today! #ForLou.”

The photo first went viral in June 2024, during the Celtics’ and Panthers’ postseason runs. After he reappeared, people couldn’t help but notice the third head behind the boy, Bai, including his father and friends on Snapchat, according to Clutch Points.

Along with Bai’s friends and family sharing the photo, it was shared during the Stanley Cup Finals and the NBA Finals, where both Tkachuk and Tatum took home their respective trophies. Tkachuk’s Florida Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers on June 24th. Tatum’s Celtics also defeated the Dallas Mavericks on June 17th.

Matthew Tkachuk and Jayson Tatum at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on August 18, 2024.

Dilip Vishwanath/Getty

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The 2024 replay of the photo happened before kickoff of the Cardinals-Dodgers game. Both Tatum and Tkachuk met at Busch Stadium and received red City Connect jerseys with their names and numbers on them.

Bai was taken by the Cardinals from San Diego to St. Louis with his fiancee Rachel Anne Ramos to recreate a photo with the athletes, Clutch Points reports.

After the two professional athletes threw the ceremonial first pitches, they headed to the suite to meet Baio and recreate their photo. In the new photo, they also kept copies of the original image for comparison.

Jayson Tatum June 17, 2024 Matthew Tkachuk June 24, 2024 in Sunrise, Florida.

Jim Poorten/NBAE via Getty Images; Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images

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Before their reunion, Tkachuk told reporters at Stanley Cup Final Media Day in early June that he watched Tatum play during the NBA playoffs.

“Yeah, it’s actually really cool when you think about it,” he said, according to NHL.com. “Everybody from St. Louis, whether they want to watch or not, with both of them, I’d say there’s a lot of people, especially kids that we grew up with and families and people that know us, pulling for both teams. It’s super cool to have that support at home no not only for myself, but also for the Celtics.”

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education