"Richard Linklater of the NBA": Jayson Tatum leaves fans erupting in awe after recreating viral 'How to tie a tie' with his shoes 

Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum has made his long-awaited return to YouTube after 11 years after eliminating the Miami Heat in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. With a few days off before Tatum and the Celtics begin their second-round series against the winner of the Cavaliers-Magic series, Tatum decided to surprise fans.

Seemingly out of the blue, Tatum logged back into his YouTube account - where he once uploaded videos for school projects. His most well known video, of course, is a video just over a minute and a half long where the future NBA superstar teaches viewers how to tie a tie.

On Friday, Tatum returned to YouTube, posting a video titled "TIE A SHOE" where he shows viewers how to tie a shoe. The video also notably includes an updated intro slide that simply reads: "BY: Jayson Tatum" before then switching to a slide that introduces Tatum and explains the video.

The NBA community immediately began to react to the video given that fans have been waiting years for a new video to be uploaded to Tatum's channel.

As one fan wrote on the platform formerly known as Twitter:

"Jayson Tatum is the Richard Linklater of the NBA" - @MattyDaSilva (Twitter)

Other fans joked about Tatum finally regaining access to his account:

"How did bro remember the password" - @313ljay (Twitter)

"Bro finally remembered the password" - @Spomuse (Twitter)

"No way, that’s the tie kid!!!" - @KrispyKram44 (Twitter)

As some fans pointed out, the video released at the perfect time for the Celtics star ahead of the team's second-round series.

"When the world needed him most he delivered" - @Nade_811 (Twitter)

"ngl this is marketing genius" - @Nuclearsprite (Twitter)

"Marketing 101" - @Stygian__ (Twitter)

Other members of the NBA community, however, decided to use the situation as an opportunity to take aim at Tatum, criticizing him and his play:

"Looking forward to 'perform in the 4th quarter'" - @LarryDavidbkup (Twitter)

"Next tutorial: how to get carried into the 2nd round" - @StewLynyrd (Twitter)

"He makes it impossible for people to like him." - @Mayamipapi (Twitter)

Jayson Tatum still doesn't know how to tie a tie

Although Jayson Tatum's viral "How to tie a tie" video has racked up millions upon millions of views online, the Celtics star still doesn't know how to tie a tie. As he's explained in recent years, the video was made as part of a school project, which required the students to create a YouTube account and upload videos.

Tatum's first video, "J TATUM MOVIE" took viewers on a tour of his high school. The video includes some cameos from other students, as Tatum explains several reasons why he went to Chaminade High School.

The video then shifts, with another student interviewing Tatum about his decision to go to Chaminade High School. As Tatum explains in the video however, despite the school's reputation for academics, he wants to pursue a basketball career.

His senior year, before spending a year at Duke, Tatum averaged a whopping 29.5 points per game along with 9.1 rebounds per game. In his final game at Chaminade, Tatum dropped 40 points to bring a championship back to the school.

Despite the academic reputation of the high school, and Jayson Tatum's famous YouTube video, as he explained in a 2022 interview with Bleacher Report, he still doesn't know how to tie a tie.

"Honestly no, and it's wild because I was in like a web design class and we had to make a YouTube account and post videos. Now that video has millions of views. The internet finds everything."

Should he and the Boston Celtics wind up winning the NBA title and earn themselves a trip to the White House, Tatum may want to revisit his old video.