Mavericks take bold jab at Jayson Tatum and Celtics in viral video

At a time where NBA news is very scarce across the league, the release of every team’s NBA schedule always tends to be something fanatics can look forward to during the middle of August.

Going back just a few years ago, teams would release their schedules and not think too much about it, but with as many fans that are excited to see when their teams' schedules are released nowadays, many teams have gotten creative with the way that they announce their entire schedule or some of their primetime games.

The Dallas Mavericks decided to hop on this trend as well recently, as sophomore center Dereck Lively II went to a dinosaur-themed exhibit to help promote the Mavericks’ schedule for Dallas’ social media team. Lively II is a renowned Jurassic Park and dinosaur fan, so it seems like he had a blast partaking in this event, as he was making witty jokes with the fake dinosaurs in regard to certain NBA opponents the Mavericks will be facing this coming season.

Mavericks troll Jayson Tatum and Celtics during schedule release video

As Lively II would finish making a pun, the opponent who he was referencing would flash up on the screen with all the games they are projected to play against the Mavericks in 2024-25, and no reference was funnier than Lively II’s diss against the incumbent NBA Champion Boston Celtics.

In the last scene of the video, Lively II mocked Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum in hilarious fashion, as Lively II was holding a fake dinosaur egg whilst screaming, “We found it, we did it!”. Lively II then said, “People always wonder what would happen if I never found the egg, I guess we’ll never know.”

Lively II of course was alluding to what Tatum said after the Celtics beat the Mavericks in Game 5 of the NBA Finals to win the championship, as Tatum’s celebratory statements were coined as unoriginal by many NBA fans online. Many celebrities and athletes have used the same expression Tatum did when celebrating a major feat of success, so while one can’t argue with winning a ring, the internet certainly had their fun roasting Tatum this past June.

Lively II joining in on the fun was a solid jab between him and the Mavericks social team to stir the pot a little bit more with the Celtics and Tatum, so the Mavericks added even more stakes to their January 25 and February 6 matchup with the Celtics with this video.

Those two games against the Celtics will be a great litmus test for this Mavericks team at that juncture in the season, as Dallas hopes to avenge their loss in the Finals during those regular season matchups against Boston, so hopefully Lively II and the rest of the team can back up this hilarious social media post.