Celtics star Jayson Tatum was often the odd man out in Team USA’s lineups, but he won’t let this year’s Olympic experience affect his availability for international basketball in the future, writes Brian Windhorst of ESPN. Tatum didn’t get off the bench in two of the six U.S. games, including the semifinal matchup with Serbia. He saw 11 minutes in Saturday’s gold medal contest, finishing with two points and three rebounds.
“It was a tough personal experience on the court, but I’m not going to make any decision off emotions,” Tatum said. “If you asked me right now if I was going to play in 2028 — it is four years from now and I [would have] to take time and think about that. So I’m not going to make any decision based off how this experience was or how I felt individually.”
Tatum’s surprising lack of playing time was one of the few controversies affecting this version of Team USA. He’s among the best players in the world, earning first-team All-NBA honors last season while winning his first championship and appearing in his fifth straight All-Star Game. Coach Steve Kerr explained numerous times that Tatum’s minutes were the result of matchups and having so many talented players on the roster. Tatum said at Saturday’s post-game press conference that he received a lot of feedback from supporters.
“A lot of people text me and reached out and said ‘Make sure this fuels you,’ which I appreciate. There’s a lot of people that care about me,” he said. “I think the tough part is yes, you can use things to fuel you, but I’m still human. … Part of being in the moment, I’ve sacrificed and put a lot into this game and work really, really hard. So in the moment it is tough. You’re not necessarily worried about fueling me for November or [whenever] the season is, but like I said, it’s something I’m going to take away from this and learn from this experience. It’s definitely challenging and humbling at the same time.”
There’s more on the Celtics:
- Former Celtic Guerschon Yabusele used the Olympics to show that he’s one of the best players outside the NBA, observes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. He averaged 14 points per game and earned second-team honors while helping France capture the silver medal. Washburn notes that Yabusele was an undersized power forward without a developed shooting touch when he played for Boston from 2017-19, but he has refined his game and gotten into excellent shape during his three seasons with Real Madrid.
- It’s possible that LeBron James could eventually become a part owner of the Celtics, according to Josh Kosman of The New York Post. Boston’s longtime rival is a business partner with Fenway Sports Group and RedBird Capital, who are considering making a bid for the shares being sold by Wyc Grousbeck. James couldn’t be part of an ownership group while he’s an active player, but there’s a chance he’ll be retired by the time the sale is finalized in 2028.
- The Celtics’ value has been estimated at $5.12 billion, according to Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams of Sportico, who report that the franchise has hired JPMorgan Chase and BDT & MSD to oversee the sale.
Jayson Tatum is the most overrated player in the NBA and he didn’t deserve to play on this dream team and when he did it was brick city and turnovers.
More overrated than Draymond Green?
I am curious why do you hate him so much. He did not bash Kerr or the team. He did what they told him and tried to deal with the press in a professional manner.
So why the hate? Is it because you know GSW will not make the playoffs this year and Boston most likely is in the ECF and Championship? Jealousy?
Just weird how much you hate him.
Pry the same reason you hate Devin Booker so much for no reason other than he outplayed your guy on this team.
There is a large contingent of C’s fans who agree. Really good player, great even, but not top 5 in the NBA and not the best player on the C’s.
Very terrible, nasty and uncalled for comment.
Davey J knows all about brick city and turnovers, those are the two best ways to describe the 2023-24 Golden State Warriors.
Keep a good eye on that rearview mirror Davey, we don’t want you to miss it when the Houston Rockets pass the Warriors bye in the standings in 24/25
Those 4 rings feel so good, you will never know what that feels like. Sad!
Steph Curry won most clutch player of the year last season, so it wasnt really brick city and turnovers from him, mostly Klay, who is no longer here.
Are you going to be okay when GSW keeps getting better and finishes top 4 next year? Wouldnt want you to self-harm…
“Those 4 rings feel so good, you will never know what that feels like. Sad!”
I will never know what that feels like? I’ve watched the Celtics win 5 rings since becoming an NBA fan and they’ve won a total of 7 rings in my lifetime.
Not only that but all of the fans in my region just watched Tom Brady & Bill Belichick dominate in the NFL for 20 years that included the Pats winning 6 Super Bowls ( and one bonus SB win in TB for TB.) Throw in 4 Red Sox World Series wins from that same stretch and even one Bruins Stanley Cup to boot.
There’s a reason why sports fans,in general, hate the region of New England’s pro sports teams and its because all it does is win.
No offense Davey, as a Boston sports fan I’ve been lucky enough to see my favorite local sports teams win considerably more than “4 rings” and I’m extremely grateful for that.
You on the other hand, act like you somehow played a part in Steph Curry’s greatness in leading the Dubs to “4 rings” and feel the need to bring it up during every single HR breathe you take, and honestly its getting to be very creepy. Like, maybe someone should let Steph know when you’re in the same state, creepy.
Make sure to show this exact Davey J account around here when we’re a month or two into the season and your Dubs aren’t living up to Your Projections. Most of us around here know where the Celtics will be at that time and we’re all pretty positive about where GS will be too. We may even see a Draymond Green vacation by this time too, I even heard that Fanduel is even offering odds on when that will happen. Remember now, come back so we can all remind you how so far off pretty much ALL of your predictions will be. Using one of your many Alts won’t count.
Forget it my friend. Haters hate New England sports teams, bc as you pointed out, they win.
I just say this and leave it alone…
SCOREBOARD.
He is upset bc GSW will not be in the playoffs and will most likely be a lottery team in 2 years. Boston will probably have #19 and maybe even #20. After that the Apron will destroy the team.
You would be upset too if the best you can hope for is a win v. France.
Dude is inferring another poster is going to kill himself because of basketball. We’ve got a real winner here
No one inferred anything close to what you’re suggesting. I suggested that someone’s love for Steph Curry is pretty out of hand right now. That is all.
@Occam Sorry. Way over my head there lol.
GSW = 5 rings
Boston = 18 rings.
You might have heard that this year when you were watching Boston winning the 18th and you were home with your Steph Curry “The City” replica jersey.
@ Davey. You’re the type who talks, then disappears when your bold statements fall flat on their face. The name Davey J will be gone when the Warriors flame out.
Kerr can try to spin the matchup crap all he wants. The fact is he was out coached by Serbia and France. Only superior talent, especially Curry’s shooting, led to winning. All but unknowledgeable basketball fans would say that Tatum is certainly one of the top 10 players in the world, and there is no justification for his not playing. Anthony Edwards was awful in the semis, but Kerr kept putting him in. Tatum and Bam both should have gotten more minutes than they did. But I guess Kerr prefers Curry and Lebron with 6 turnovers each playing too many minutes.
Tatum is not top 10 in the world, but Jaylen Brown is. Tatum choked in 2 games in these NBA Finals, and he choked every time he went on the court in these Olympics. You know who didn’t do that? Embiid, Lebron, KD, Steph and Jrue and Booker.
Kerr and TY LUE and ERIK SPOELSTRA (funny how you ignore how it was these 3 HOF-level coaches making all the decisions together) made the moves that it took to win, that’s all that matters. Nit picking that they didnt win the way YOU wanted them to is babybrained, overemotional garbage. Boston fans are bad at being sports fans.
If anything your beef stems from team USA being put together wrong, we needed more role players and 6th men who know how to set up and space the floor for the elite superstars. Tatum should have never been on the team to begin with.
Why are you so obsessed with Tatum?
Why are Celtic fans obsessed with Tatum not being a starter?
“Tatum should have never been on the team to begin with.”
This is a very ignorant statement and is just your emotions talking.
But again why do you hate him so much? It is a very weird obsession.
This is a sore spot for Celtics fans.
There is a theory, ill just call it that and not get into if its valid or not, that Tatum and Brown are disrepected by certain elements of the basketball world. Steven A Smith is one. He takes shots at Tatum and Brown religiously. Now, its Steven A so you know not to take whatever he says seriously but the opinion in Boston is that Steven A is not an outlier.
We know that Tatum and Brown feel somewhat like this because you can hear Tatum talking to his mom after the championship saying “what are they gonna say now…”
Boston fans are notoriously protective of their players and Tatum is our guy. We drafted him, we developed him and with Brown they have grown into great people and great players.
So, the narrative around basketball coupled with Boston Celtics crazy fan base, which I am one of, is the reason this is an issue.
I dont think fans want him to start, they want him to get respect for what he has already proven.
Is it correct? I dont know. I have seen some shade towards Boston but I usually just pass it off as New England sports/Boston sports hate, which is normal. I am a Red Sox fan, if you cannot handle opposing fan bases hate, you cannot be a Red Sox fan.
This is my opinion about what is going on. Also the national media is not going to allow team USA to sit any All NBA guy, Tatum or whomever. Tatum was just the guy who got it and then it blew up.
Also please explain 2020? Just curious how Tatum should have not been on 2024, but was the 2nd best player on 2020?
Please I love the spin.
Yes the gold medal winner was outcoached lol
Well he was.
Remember France went 10-17 FTs, made 3 bad turnovers when they were only down 6 in the 4th quarter. Missed two easy layups and allowed Curry to even get the ball.
If Curry does not go off with Hero Ball, USA is in trouble.
Good point, the team that won it all and went undefeated should really have done things differently.
undefeated for 6 games…lol.
So your point is nobody could have won this other than Steve Kerr using his system? Ok, sure…
That’s definitely not my point lol
My point is they won everything they could win yet you think they should have done things differently, how does that make sense?
Also “top 10 in the world” means Wemby, Joker and Luka are on the list, and youre actually saying Tatum is top 7 in America. Nope.
Lets calm down and do sound analysis here, Jayson Tatum is a top 15 player in USA, and top 25 in the world. This is about right. Tatum can’t win unless he has 5 star-level players around him. He has choked far too many times to take him seriously as a top player. If he wins 3+ chips we can start to change this opinion, but he likely will not do that.
Wemby is top 10 now? Ok.
1st team All NBA FOR LAST 3 YEARS. I think that makes him top 10 in the world, and so do the voters for All NBA.
Facts aren’t kind to Davey.
Kerr gives me the heebie jeebies
@Erik Dude. Davey said “wouldn’t want you to self harm” to you. So yeah. It was inferred. Not sure why you’re defending the person who insinuated you might string up but hey you do you
Sorry dude, that went way over my head lol. We cool. (insert fistbump gif here)
This might be a strange take but
I think Lebron should consider taking the lead position at Team USA when he retires. I do think he deserves ownership in a team. But his mind and global impact may be better suited for the international game.
The NBA may be a better product with less Lebron.
USA basketball may be a better product with more Lebron.
I love the back and forth about the Gold Medal US team. I wonder how many different combinations would have still won the gold, of course, only hypothetical. Like lists of the best players of all time.
F the Celtics …..
F the Warriors ….,
New Era coming ……
I don’t think true fans hate winners. We hate whiners. And specifically those who get a good run. And now think they have transformed the game. Warriors are done. If you are a real fan. The sport should come first. There is no winning without true competition. Must say really dumb to talk chips while hating on Celtics.
So I’ll just say …… we coming for you.
Tatum imo didn’t try to fit in. He is the lead dog in Boston. The lead dog here is gm to gm. You become a part of that. By fitting in. Finding a place that affects winning. Other Celtics didn’t have a problem with that. We all saw other players didn’t have a problem finding Steph. No matter how great you are. This is a team game. No one wins it alone.
Yeah I agree. I am not a Warriors fan but I appreciate what they have done (Not changing the culture of the NBA) and respect everything they have done. Kerr and company messed this up by not ever having a actual C on the roster and thinking Chris Paul is the answer. Let Klay go and stick a fork in it. Dynasty over
Rick Barry and Wilt are the only ones who have done it by themselves the closets in all of the history of the ABA and NBA
LeBron’s first time ever playing post defense (he was always scared of being in a poster) and this happens. Christmas comes early
Speaking of sale. I want to buy this poster
You’d think that winning a men’s hoops gold medal would unite fans of the NBA and the sport in in general.
F that, we Americans have a different agenda.