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

Tonoy Sengupta | 01/08/2024
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.”

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.

Post Edited By: Bhavani Singh
jamal murray Jayson Tatum NBA Team Canada Team USA

About the author

Tonoy Sengupta

Tonoy Sengupta

Tonoy Sengupta is a Senior Editor at The SportsRush. Coming from an athletically inclined family, he has been surrounded by sports ever since he was 4 years old. But, while initially pouring all his time into Football (soccer), at 14, Tonoy discovered basketball through the countless highlights of Stephen Curry humiliating players from Curry Land. And just like that, a fiery passion for the game was ignited within Tonoy. And soon after, he decided to become a student of journalism, graduating in 2022, and choosing sports as his area of interest. Today, you can find him spending 99% of his time browsing through every type of content on every team in the NBA, before uncorking everything he has found to the world. In the 1% he isn't doing this, you can find him playing Basketball, Football, Volleyball, or practically any other sport he has had the opportunity to learn.

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