Jayson Tatum recently lauded the impact of USA Basketball on his rise as an NBA star. Upon looking back at his 2021 Tokyo Olympics experience, the Boston Celtics star admitted how his time with the national side elevated his game. This garnered the fans’ attention, paving the way for an interesting discussion.
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During the latest episode of 7PM in Brooklyn, the 26-year-old publicly revealed his thoughts. The 2024 NBA champion outlined how featuring against the leading names around the league during the training sessions aided his progress. Elaboration his viewpoint, Tatum recalled:
“When I won in 2021 over in Tokyo, that next year, I was first-team All-NBA, I starred in All-Star game, we went to the Finals. You play USA Basketball, you just come into the league in a different way, cause you play against the best players in the world for six weeks every day. So I think it definitely pushes you going to the next season”.
Alongside portraying an accurate picture of his career transformation, his words extended the viewpoint of the show’s host, Carmelo Anthony. During a recent episode, Melo expressed how featuring for Team USA positively impacted his NBA career. Much to his delight, Tatum experienced a similar outcome, validating his standpoint.
After all, the 2021 Olympics served as a turning point in Tatum’s career. Competing against Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Damian Lillard, the youngster uplifted his gameplay through training sessions. This resulted in him recording 15.2 points, and 3.3 rebounds per game while playing merely 20.2 minutes in his debut Olympics campaign.
This impressive form continued in the subsequent NBA campaign. Surpassing his then-career average, Tatum registered 26.9 points, 8 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game, earning him his third All-Star call-up and first-ever All-NBA First Team spot. Following this, the Celtics forward led his franchise to its first-ever NBA Finals appearance since 2010, marking the turnaround around the city.
Even though his remarkable run on this occasion ended with a setback, it prepared him for the upcoming challenges. And after two more years of persistence, his hard work paid off. Tatum played an integral role in leading the Celtics to the latest championship win, justifying his recent declaration.
Interestingly, he is back into the national setup again. And this time, he is up against an even more potent roster than before. This has resulted in the Celtics fans dreaming about the possibility of Tatum elevating himself further while increasing the hopes of retaining the title.
