Jayson Tatum Shouts Out Old High School Classmate Matt Tkachuk As Both Battle For Championships

Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum and Florida Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk have a lot in common.

Obviously, at the moment, both are fighting for championships in their respective leagues, but it goes a bit deeper than that. 

The two went to high school together, which is very cool, but also means that anyone who shows up to a class reunion can only be the third-coolest person there if Tatum and Tkachuk are in attendance. Tops.

Both of them attended Chaminade College Preparatory School in St. Louis, which may not be a surprise given Tkachuk's old man, Keith, spent a lot of time playing for the Blues.

The Celtics have a 2-0 lead over the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals, and ahead of Game 3 a reporter brought up to Tatum that Tkachuk had said he's been watching a lot of the NBA Finals as both of their teams are two wins from titles.

"I'm a big Matthew fan," Tatum said.

Hey, me too. Not necessarily Matthew Tkachuk though, just Matthews in general. What a name.

"We went to school together and I actually watched him win [on Monday night]," Tatum continued. "I'm trying to learn and understand the rules and the game of hockey more, but I got to watch the game [on Monday] and they won, so, like I said, I'm extremely happy for him and his family and hopefully they win it all."

It's nice and easy for the two old school chums to watch each other play since both the NBA Final and Stanley Cup Final air on ABC, so they won't be in direct competition with each other.

If there's a big winner in this it's Chaminade College Preparatory School. If the Celtics and Panthers win championships all their new pamphlet has to be is a photo of Tatum with the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy and Tkachuk with the Stanley Cup.

Boom. Any questions?