Jamal Murray Used Jayson Tatum’s Example to Explain His Bench Role for Canada at 2024 Paris Olympics

Team Canada will be feeling excellent at the moment, with the team 2-0 so far in the Olympics, after their win over Australia. After the game, Jamal Murray spoke to reporter Ariel Halwani about his role with Team Canada. During this time, he announced that he had no problem coming off the bench for his country before taking Jayson Tatum’s example for Team USA.

The Olympics have quite a few NBA superstars available for both the USA and Canada. While this means great things for the strength of their rosters, it also means that there will inevitably be big names that have to ride the bench. Unfortunately for Tatum, he was one of them.

Against Serbia, he didn’t touch the floor for a single moment. Using this as an example, Murray explained that pride needs to be thrown out the window when players are with the national team. Due to this, he has no problem coming off the bench for Canada.

“Everybody has a role. I think you saw Jayson Tatum didn’t play a single minute [against Serbia]. You know, I’ve seen a lot of guys, Tyrese Haliburton didn’t play. I think a lot of guys on other teams are starting on their respective NBA teams. So it’s not an ego thing over here. We’re just trying to get the win.”

Lots of questions and talk about whether Jamal Murray is 100% and why he isn’t playing more for Canada in the first two games.

I asked him about that after yesterday’s win, and loved his answer. pic.twitter.com/lEq5fkOdmo

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) July 31, 2024

It isn’t just Murray who seems to have this understanding of Team Canada. Every single player seems to attack the game with a role in mind, regardless of whether they are starting or coming off the bench. Perhaps this understanding has allowed this team to qualify for the quarter-finals already after just their second game of the tournament.

Now, with Team USA looking to steamroll everyone in their path, Canada must be strong enough to stand on equal footing with them, when time comes. And given the talent that they have on the roster, there is no reason to believe a showdown between them wouldn’t be one for the ages to witness.