Jayson Tatum and Matthew Tkachuk Recreate Their Viral Childhood School Bus Photo
Former classmate Jacob Bai also joined the athletes in the photo creation
Sarah Stier/Getty; Eliot J. Schechter/NHLI via Getty
Jayson Tatum; Matthew TkachukNBA star Jayson Tatum and NHL player Matthew Tkachuk, who are St. Louis natives, reunited to recreate a photo from their childhood.
Tkachuk, a forward for the Florida Panthers, posed with Tatum, a Boston Celtics guard, in a new photo posted by the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday, Aug. 18. The image was captured during the Cardinals' home game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Busch Stadium.
In the original photo, Tatum, now 26, is smiling in a bright orange shirt to the right of Tkachuk, also now 26, who is looking seriously at the camera in his blue-striped polo shirt. Meanwhile, their classmate Jacob Bai is peeking in the back as they all sit together on their school bus.
How it started ➡️ How it's going.
Jayson Tatum and Matthew Tkachuk reunited with childhood classmate Jacob B. to recreate their famous bus photo at the ballpark today!#ForTheLoupic.twitter.com/Y0ty2mIdf0— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) August 18, 2024
“How it started ➡️ How it's going,” read the MLB team’s post on X (formerly Twitter). “Jayson Tatum and Matthew Tkachuk reunited with childhood classmate Jacob B. to recreate their famous bus photo at the ballpark today! #ForTheLou.”
The photo first went viral in June 2024, during the Celtics' and Panthers' postseason runs. Once it resurfaced, people couldn’t help but notice the third head behind the boys, Bai, including his father and friends on Snapchat, per Clutch Points.
Along with Bai’s friends and family sharing the photo, it was shared during the Stanley Cup Final and NBA Finals, where both Tkachuk and Tatum took home their respective trophies. Tkachuk’s Florida Panthers defeated the Edmonton Oilers on June 24. Tatum’s Celtics also were victorious over the Dallas Mavericks on June 17.
Dilip Vishwanat/Getty
Matthew Tkachuk and Jayson Tatum at Busch Stadium in St Louis on Aug. 18, 2024The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!
The 2024 iteration of the photo occurred before the Cardinals-Dodgers game began. Both Tatum and Tkachuk met at Busch Stadium and were gifted red City Connect jerseys featuring their names and numbers.
Bai was flown out by the Cardinals from San Diego to St. Louis with his fiancée, Rachel Anne Ramos, to recreate the photo with the athletes, Clutch Points reports.
After the two professional athletes threw the ceremonial first pitches, they headed up to a suite to meet up with Bai and recreate their photo. In the new photo, they also held up copies of the original image for comparison.
Jim Poorten/NBAE via Getty Images; Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images
Jayson Tatum on June 17, 2024. Matthew Tkachuk on June 24, 2024 in Sunrise, Florida.Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Ahead of their reunion, Tkachuk told reporters at the Stanley Cup Final Media Day in early June that he was watching Tatum’s games throughout the NBA Playoffs.
“Yeah, it’s actually really cool when you think about it," he said, according to NHL.com. "Everyone from St. Louis, whether they were going to watch or not, with having both of us in, I’d say there’s a lot of people, especially the kids we grew up with and families and people who know us, they’re pulling for both teams. It’s super cool to have that support back home for not only myself, but for the Celtics as well."
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