When you have a supportive partner, or at least the means to take care of yourself, being a teenage parent might not sound so bad. However, when you have to do it all on your own, there will be times when you will have to sacrifice a lot of things or simply break down. Jayson Tatum had such a childhood. Born to Brandy Cole when she was just 18, both mother and son had to endure a lot before JT reached the superstardom he has now. That said, the duo did get some help from Tatum’s grandma whenever she could help out.

The grandmother we are referring to here is Mae Bell Cole. In a 2016 ESPN article, the hooper’s mom recalled the days when she had to work multiple jobs just to make ends meet. Being a teenage parent hadn’t stopped her from pursuing higher education, either. As such, Brandy needed all the help she could get and sometimes, it came in the form of her mother.

Jayson Tatum’s grandma would often look after him when his mom was working or at the university. “I remember one day my mom called and told me Jayson crawled for the first time. I just broke down and cried,” she recalled. As tough as it was to be not present for an important milestone of her child, she was glad for the support of her mom.

But recently, Jayson Tatum announced that his grandma had passed away. Mae Bell Cole breathed her last on October 5, 2024. Taking to Instagram, more than a week later, Jayson Tatum posted a picture of his grandma with the caption “Rest up Grandma,” followed by a praying-hands emoji and a red heart. By the looks of it, it is an invite, for near and dear ones, to commemorate his grandmother.

On the card, it says, “A homegoing celebration for Mae Bell Cole.” Born on May 20, 1939, the late Mrs. Cole was 85 years old at her death. The card also had the date, time, and venue, as well as a Bible verse (Revelation 21:4). “God shall wipe away all tears from eyes; and there shall be no more neither sorrow, nor crying, neither here be any more pain: for the things are passed away.”

Subsequent photos showed Jayson Tatum with his mom, Kristie Jursch, and Deuce, followed by the final one with a few other relatives, or perhaps close friends of the family. This comes in the wake of another unfortunate event that happened in JT’s life.

Justin Tatum, father of Jayson Tatum, opens up about his stern ways of disciplining his son

The 26-year-old has talked at length about his tough childhood. But perhaps the most distressing part was Tatum’s father’s public physical disciplining. A former basketball player, Justin showed no mercy to his son. While many kids have grown up with parents showing them tough love, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Jayson’s father may have been a little too literal with it.

But Tatum Sr. shared his side of the story in Netflix’s Starting 5 series. “I was a little harsh and tough on him at times, but it was for the fact that I needed him to understand that life is not gonna be easy. And so if you wanna love this game, put your all into it.”

Unfortunately, what the then-18-year-old father didn’t realize was that this “little” harshness affected his young son differently. In an interview with Graham Bensinger, Jayson admitted that he “was scared of him.” And how would he not? Take, for instance, what JT said. “He would, like, grab me by my shirt and pin me up against the wall and cuss me out in front of everybody.”

Although Jayson would be a crying mess because of the treatment, he admitted, “But then I would come out at halftime and I would outscore the rest of the team and we would win.” The anger and frustration Tatum Jr. felt were all focused on the game, fueling him to be aggressive in his matchup. “So, in his mind, like he needed to push my buttons to get me to a certain point.”

Well, the 5x All-Star might not have Justin Tatum as coach now, but the drive and determination are still there. After all, he, along with Jaylen Brown, just led the Celtics to a long-awaited championship. Not to mention, his second Olympic gold medal!