What a season-opening act by Jayson Tatum. He seems to have shed the baggages from the past few months to announce himself on the grand stage once again. After realizing his childhood dream of becoming an NBA Champion earlier this year, the Boston Celtics power forward was more than disappointed for not being selected as the MVP of the Finals. A possible confidence-denting experience awaited him after that at the Paris Olympics. While he made it to the Team USA roster alongside the greatest players in the world, he warmed the bench for the majority of the campaign.
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Well all that is history as of today. Tatum showed up on NBA’s Opening Night in spectacular fashion against the New York Knicks, putting up 25 points in the first half. While discussing the five-time All-Star’s first-half performance on Inside the NBA, Charles Barkley said that Tatum is pissed off with what happened during the Olympics. If that’s the case, it time to reiterate his class, and the 16-year-old is doing it in some style.
Chuck believes that JT will use this season to show the NBA world that disrespecting a player of his caliber has its consequences. Barkley said, “If I’m Jayson Tatum, I’m pissed off at what happened during the Olympics. And I’m coming in like, ‘Oh, y’all think I ain’t good enough to play in the Olympics? We just won a championship!’”
Tatum had six assists, and shot 9-12 from the field, and 6-9 from the three-point range in the first half. It was nothing short of a statement from the Celtics star.
"If I'm Jayson Tatum, I'm pissed off at what happened during the Olympics"
Chuck reacts to JT's first-half performance 😤 pic.twitter.com/vz4BtHd6X0
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) October 23, 2024
When the second half rolled out, he added another 12 points to his tally. JT finished the game with 37 points, 10 assists, shooting 14-18 from the field to secure a 132-109 win for his team. He is surely off to a MVP-caliber start to the season.
Tatum being on the bench for the most part during the Olympics was one of the biggest topics of discussion this summer. And it seems like it’ll trickle down to the new NBA season as well.
Tatum gave his thoughts on the Olympic experience
Even though he was on a team with the likes of LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, and other legends, Tatum was coming off of a championship win. So, JT didn’t expect to be on the bench throughout the tournament.
As Team USA went deeper into the contest, the Celtics star remained a benched player. After the campaign, he shared his thoughts with The Athletic.
Tatum said, “It was a lot. In the age of social media, you see everything. You see all the tweets and the people on the podcasts and people on TV giving their opinion on whether they thought it was a good decision or it was an outrageous decision or whatever. Obviously, I wanted to contribute more, and I’ve never been in (this) situation.”
The pressure of having a player like Tatum on the bench was so much that coach Steve Kerr had to address it during the campaign. He acknowledged that it was very tough to give everyone on the roster a chance to show their talent. In all fairness, Tatum was out of form and he only averaged 5.3 points per game in the limited number of opportunities he received.
Another popular belief is that Kerr benched Tatum to give him some rest after a hectic Championship campaign. Whatever the reason may be behind JT’s benching, it’ll come up more often if Boston shows the same dominance they did last season.
