Justin Tatum eyes NBA gig

Saturday, March 8, 2025

illawarra hawks

"I have aspirations of wanting to get on an NBA level to see how far I can push myself as a coach."

Coach of the Year winner Justin Tatum has reaffirmed his desire of coaching in the NBA.

Tatum has engineered a spectacular turnaround of the Illawarra Hawks since taking over last season and has the club now one win away from a Championship Series berth.

Many players have walked the established NBL to NBA pathway over the years, and now Tatum wants to do so in a coaching capacity.

“The NBL is a place where I’ve put my stamp on, but at the end of the day I have aspirations of wanting to get on an NBA level to see how far I can push myself as a coach,” Tatum told Newscorp.

“I’ve just finished up my first season of a three-year contract, so we’ll see what happens.”

Tatum is the father of Boston Celtics NBA superstar Jayson Tatum.

The Hawks host the South East Melbourne Phoenix in a sudden death game three of the Playoffs on Wednesday night at 7:30pm AEDT, live on ESPN.