After a solid showing for the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals this year, Jayson Tatum went to Paris for a stacked Team USA team to bring home the Gold Medal. However, Tatum’s role in the Olympics was significantly limited as he spent most of his time on the sidelines. This perplexed not only spectators but his Celtics teammates as well.
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Tatum’s running mate for the Celtics, Jrue Holiday, who also was a member of Team USA, was baffled by how his All-Star teammate was barely utilized by head coach Steve Kerr in the United States’ gold medal run. Holiday had reasons to be shocked, considering Tatum had just led Boston to an NBA Championship days before the competition started.
He may not have won the Finals MVP, but Tatum was one of the best players of the NBA postseason, the highest echelon of basketball in the world, as the veteran Celtics guard pointed out.
Holiday wasn’t shy about sharing his confusion regarding his star teammate’s omission from the Olympic rotation during his appearance on Podcast P with Paul George,
“But was it weird? Yeah, that’s Jayson Tatum. What you mean? He’s a top five player, [one of the] top five players in the league. Just won a championship, one of the best players in the playoffs and in the Finals. So, when it was happening, like yeah, you feel for him because of everything that literally just happened two weeks ago.” Holiday said.
Even with limited minutes, buried in a stacked rotation, Tatum never complained. Holiday pointed out how JT understood that this opportunity was bigger than one player’s chance to shine, even if he desperately wanted to contribute more throughout their run.
You could see that, yeah he’s upset, he wanted to play, he’s a hooper, what hooper wouldn’t be? Again, that’s just his professionalism, that’s him being ‘all right, it’s more than me and just what I want’… and honestly, bro, he was great… he wasn’t pouting, I could tell you that,” the 34-year-old added.
Tatum never played big minutes throughout the United States’ gold medal run, averaging just 5.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. But his patience, professionalism, and team-first mentality resulted in the team achieving their ultimate goal.
Tatum’s early performances are silencing doubters from the Olympic run
After being overshadowed by his co-star, Jaylen Brown, in the NBA Finals, Tatum was a prime target for criticism when he struggled in his limited Olympic role. His 17.7 minutes per game were already lower than expected, but even when Tatum did join the collection of All-Stars on the court, his struggles were noticeable. He went without a made three-pointer throughout the country’s entire run, opening the door for critics to confidently get their shots in.
It didn’t take long for Tatum to silence those doubts with the dawn of the new season. As if being the reigning champion wasn’t enough to quiet the haters, JT is currently putting up 29 points per game while knocking down an incredibly efficient 38% from deep.
With this MVP-level production and the Celtics once again near the top of the NBA, Tatum’s subpar 2024 Olympics should just be a small blip in a Hall of Fame career.
