The Team USA roster for the 2024 Paris Olympics features some of the best players in the world, with some of them even qualifying as all-time greats. While each star can make a strong case for being the best player on the team, a straw poll conducted by The Athletic to determine the top dog saw LeBron James receive the most votes. However, Paul Pierce disagreed with the results and argued that Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum was Team USA’s best player.
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On Undisputed, the Hall of Famer claimed that the poll result was a bogus popularity contest. It was borderline impossible for the Celtics forward to win the contest considering the star power on the roster. However, just because players like LeBron and Steph Curry are more popular than Tatum, doesn’t mean that they are better than the 2024 NBA Champion.
“The best player on the team is Jayson Tatum… [The poll] was a popularity contest. We are talking about a guy who is coming off a championship on the best team… Think about it. If y’all are in a room with LeBron, Steph [Curry], and [Kevin Durant], and y’all playing a pick-up game, even though you know who Tatum is, you probably gonna pick LeBron first.”
Pierce added that James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant are the three most popular players on the roster. They would easily sweep any poll they were a part of. However, the Hall of Famer noted that they are past their prime and Tatum is currently a better player than the trio.
Not many in the Team USA camp agree with Pierce’s take. James led the poll with five votes, while Curry, Anthony Edwards, and Tatum’s Celtics teammate, Jrue Holiday received two votes each. Joel Embiid, Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard, and Bam Adebayo also received a vote each. But Tatum received none.
.@PaulPierce34 says Jayson Tatum is the best player on Team USA pic.twitter.com/taSK0OPwfh
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) July 10, 2024
Even Durant finished with zero votes, dispelling Pierce’s take that the poll was a popularity contest. Considering Holiday received more votes and Jaylen Brown was the MVP of the 2024 Finals, there’s a viable argument that Tatum isn’t even the best player on the Celtics, let alone on Team USA.
The forward is among the best young players in the NBA. He’s a five-time All-Star, has earned three All-NBA First-Team nods, and now has a championship win on his resume. However, there’s still a long way to go before he’s anointed as the best player in the country.
Pierce, a Celtics icon, is clearly biased. So we should definitely take his argument with a grain of salt.
