Tatum on 'trying to be a better version of myself every day'

• Tatum told parents to let their kid be who they are
• Jaylen Brown's father said sideline yelling embarrasses children and drives them out
• Tatum won the NBL25 title and Coach of the Year with Illawarra

NBL25 champion and Coach of the Year Justin Tatum has offered the ultimate advice for parents of young basketballers: “Let your kid be who they are. Don't live your dreams through him or her.”

Tatum, 47, led the Illawarra Hawks to the 2024-25 NBL championship and was the first guest on the new podcast Ultimate Dads Unplugged, released this week and hosted by NBA fathers LaVar Ball, Dwyane Wade Sr., and Quenton Brown Sr.

Quenton Brown Sr, who is the father of NBA champion Jaylen Brown, followed up Tatum’s statement quickly: “Don't be out there on basketball courts, football fields, being all loud and kicked out of the game.

“Let the kid learn the sport, and if he want to play the sport like my kid did, he show you what he want to do.

“You just support him and all that yelling on the sidelines y'all be doing and stuff.

“Cut it out, man. That embarrasses the kid. Kid don't want to play cuz you making a fool of yourself, yelling at the ref and all that kind of stuff. That's that stuff; you need to cut it out.

“There's no place for that. And I hope that helps someone out there.”

Ultimate Dads Unplugged was a wide-ranging, raw, and unfiltered conversation between the hosts and Tatum.

Ever the head coach, Tatum said his son Jayson Tatum’s Boston Celtics were unlikely to win the NBA championship, unlike LaVar Ball, who declared the Minnesota Timberwolves would win it now that his son, LaMelo Ball, a former NBL Next Star for the Illawarra Hawks, was on the roster.

“Realistically, I might say New York might run it back,” Tatum said.

LaVar chimed in: “If you don't say, ‘Hey, the team your son's on, you got to be crazy’."

But Tatum responded: “Right now, roster’s shit.”

Lavar countered: “Who cares about the roster?”

Tatum fired back: “I do.”

Tatum has a reputation for being a player’s coach. He joined the Hawks in February 2023 as a North American scout and special advisor to basketball operations. He was quickly elevated to assistant coach for the 2023–24 season in May.

Tatum was thrust into the head coaching role on an interim basis on November 14, 2023, after the Hawks parted ways with Jacob Jackomas following a disappointing 2-7 start. Under his leadership, Illawarra immediately turned around, winning seven of their next nine games. He guided Illawarra to a 14-14 regular-season record and a fourth-place finish. He was runner-up for NBL Coach of the Year.

A year later, his Illawarra Hawks were champions of the NBL.

He revealed in intimate detail how his mother and male mentors helped shape his approach to parenting and coaching.

“My mom was a single mom,” he said.

“She got to get my ass out of the house. So, she put me in all types of sports, and I started playing basketball when I was about 14. I was in track, football, and baseball prior to then, and so she had to kick my ass out the house. So, basketball started; I had a lot of mentors, as men as coaches.

“Eventually played at St. Louis University, end overseas for a little bit, and then when I came back in '07,  I got into coaching. I started coaching at my alma mater as an assistant coach in '07, and then I became a head coach at a public school in '08.

“My youth coaches (were role models) mainly because I didn't have a father figure in my life until probably my late 20s, right?

“And so it was probably my youth coaches, and my mom was 35 years in the military. So she was a principal, and she has a lot of leadership skills, and she knew how to keep her foot in my ass.

“But she couldn't do it all, and she needed some men vice too. So I had to get out of there.”

It’s led Tatum to his ultimate goal.

“Trying to be a better version of myself every day and just challenging myself to see, ‘Hey, am I better than I was last month, last week? Did I influence or enhance somebody else's life’.

“So, that's my biggest challenge is to see how perfect I can be with myself?”

Tatum revealed the moment he realised son Jayson would be special.

“Probably when he made the USA team, I knew that, you know, it was only up from there,” Tatum said.

“But prior to then, it was probably about fourth or fifth grade when I was able to keep playing them up two to three levels, and he did not lose a beat, confidence-wise.

“And so that's something that you can't really instil in your kids. They got to kind of want to see it and want it ‘cuz they can. If you put them up two or three grades or challenge them more, they can fold, and the ones who don't, the ones that see that this is who's going to make me better, like my son and you guys, and you know we see where we at right now.

“So I kind of seen him special by the fourth to fifth grade as far as like a talented player.

“I just needed him to keep getting taller, you know, and I was like, you know, all that would play out for itself. But as far as for the NBA when he made the USA team, I knew we had a chance.”

When asked what makes him the “ultimate dad,” Tatum's answer was short but poignant.

“Hearing my kids call me every day,” he declared.

“Being involved with them and just being consistent with them.”

The Illawarra Hawks open their NBL27 campaign on the road against the New Zealand Breakers at 3pm (AEST) on Sunday, September 20, 2026.

Watch the full episode here, or in the Video Player above.