Drake Maye meets Jayson Tatum, sits courtside at Celtics Game 1 vs. Pacers

Drake Maye has now made appearances at both Celtics and Bruins playoff games this month.

Jayson Tatum met up with Drake Maye ahead of Game 1.Jayson Tatum met up with Drake Maye ahead of Game 1. NBC Sports Boston

 

In the days after he was drafted by the Patriots, quarterback Drake Maye made one thing abundantly clear.

In order to properly ingratiate himself to a new fanbase, the 21-year-old signal caller wanted to take in some playoff games on Causeway Street this spring.

“It would be great to get a chance to get to a Bruins game or the Celtics. … [Courtside seats] would be sweet,” Maye said in his first interview on WEEI last month. “I hope I find a way, we’ll see. I like to compare myself to an off-brand Jayson Tatum in my basketball comparison, so getting to meet him and some of the guys would be pretty sweet.”

ADVERTISEMENT:

After attending Game 4 of the Bruins’ second-round matchup against the Panthers earlier this month, Maye got his wish for courtside seats on Tuesday night.

The Patriots’ new QB was a busy man in the lead-up to the Celtics’ Game 1 matchup against the Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals, meeting up with Jayson Tatum in the team tunnel.

Even though Maye and Tatum went to college at UNC and Duke, respectively, there seemed to be no bad blood in their meeting on Tuesday — with Tatum signing his jersey and gifting it to Maye before taking a photo with New England’s potential franchise fixture.

Maye ended up sitting near celebrity chef Guy Fieri right by the parquet for Tuesday’s game, but spent plenty of time ahead of tip-off signing autographs and posing for photos with fans.

After the first quarter wrapped, Maye was showcased on the TD Garden videoboard — with the QB showing off his new Tatum jersey as he received a loud cheer from thousands of Celtics fans.

Maye wasn’t the only Boston athlete featured on the Garden jumbotron during Game 1. Red Sox legend and Baseball Hall of Famer David Ortiz garnered a loud ovation when he was featured on the screen.