Jayson Tatum’s lack of playing time during the 2024 Paris Olympics raised a lot of eyebrows. Many fans and experts couldn’t digest the fact that the recently crowned NBA Champion and the 3x All-NBA First team member didn’t even play a single second in two out of six Olympic games. However, Kevin Garnett believes that this was in Tatum’s best interest.
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On his KG Certified pod, the 2008 champion provided a completely different perspective on the matter. Garnett believes that the Celtics superstar needed to catch his breath after winning the 2024 NBA title.
He highlighted how winning a championship means fewer days of rest compared to the other athletes on the roster. Therefore, head coach Steve Kerr didn’t want to bestow a lot of responsibility on Tatum after such a long and hectic season.
KG highlighted how playing for Team USA needs a lot of focus. It would have been too much for JT to lock in immediately after he had such a draining postseason.
“Jayson Tatum has actually won the NBA championship during an Olympic year, which is probably the most difficult to do, right? Not only does Jayson not have a summer of relaxing and rejuvenating for another year, but yeah man, you gotta lock-in when you in [Team] USA, it is serious business,” Garnett said.
The 48-year-old recalled his 2000 Sydney Olympics experience, calling it one of the toughest years of his career. Tatum would have felt an even heavier burden than KG, who had exited early in the 2000 playoffs.
KG also pointed out that the differences in FIBA and NBA rules requires even elite NBA athletes to focus extra hard.
While many folks have criticized Team USA management for not allotting adequate minutes to the Celts forward, KG believes Tatum needed the limited minutes. Garnett gave credit to Team USA for ensuring that JT didn’t suffer burnout.
Apart from that, KG also acknowledged Tatum’s effort to understand the lack of minutes and not let his ego get the better of him.
“I’m glad he [Tatum] got to rest and chill. When everybody’s talking about he was getting these DNPs, I bet you that it was a conversation with him and Grant Hill or with management about coming on the team and then having time to be able to rest… Shoutout to JT, I don’t think you heard him bickering,” the Celtics legend added.
Therefore, going against the grain, Garnett actually supported Team USA HC Steve Kerr for allowing Tatum some leeway before another grueling NBA season. According to him, JT must have agreed to a deep bench role. However, it still leaves some questions.
Couldn’t Tatum have withdrawn and given up a roster spot to someone who was well-rested if he didn’t want to play the heavy minutes? While KG acknowledged that Derrick White and Jrue Holiday also played heavy minutes during the Olympics, he didn’t justify why they were assigned heavy minutes unlike their teammate.
Tatum led the Celts in points, rebounds, and assists throughout the playoffs, but both White and Holiday had rigorous two-way duties as well.
At any rate, Garnett provided a unique perspective on the issue and his narrative does align with how Team USA handled Tatum during the Olympics.
