"Have more respect for Jayson Tatum": Tom Brady admires Celtics star's positive outlook after benching during Olympics
After winning the NBA Finals with the Boston Celtics, Jayson Tatum made headlines this offseason due to his limited minutes with Team USA during their 2024 Paris Olympics run, even though the team ultimately won the gold medal. His willingness to embrace a reduced role has earned admiration from NFL legend Tom Brady.
Jayson Tatum told The Athletic that he experienced a "weird rhythm" playing with Team USA because he never knew when he would get the ball. His remarks about struggling to find rhythm and missing jump shots during the Olympics, which he attributed to the law of averages, caught Brady’s attention.
“A true professional! A true champion! And a great teammate! We should celebrate people who care more about the team success than the individual success!” Brady commented.
“There are so many people involved in every organization who don't always play a ‘starting’ role but play a huge role in the success of the team. I have more respect for Jayson Tatum now more than ever! Now this is what we should be teaching our kids!”
Tatum averaged just 5.3 points in 17.7 minutes per game for Team USA, shooting 38.1 percent from the field without making a single 3-pointer.
Jayson Tatum reflects on Olympics benching
While acknowledging that inconsistent minutes were new to him, Jayson Tatum told The Athletic that he remained ready and did what was asked of him, which led to a gold medal.
“I wasn’t moping around. I didn’t have an attitude. I wasn’t angry at the world,” Tatum said. “I stayed ready and did what was asked of me, and I won a gold medal, right?”
He mentioned hearing all the noise about his benching but noted that it might be the new standard for him as a superstar, having just won his first championship. Following his title win, he became the cover athlete for NBA 2K25, appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated and signed the largest contract in NBA history.
“I just won a championship, it’s the summertime, it might be nice to have a little break where you don’t turn on ESPN and they’re talking about you. But I guess this is part of it, and that may be the level that I’ve reached now in my career,” he said.
Tatum shared that one of the lessons he learned since the Finals is that not everything goes according to plan.
“I have two (gold medals) now, I have a championship, and everything doesn’t necessarily go the way you expect it to go, right?” Tatum said. “I’ve learned to be like, ‘OK, that’s a part of it.’ You move on.”
The Celtics head into next season with the highest projected win total at 58.5, according to ESPN BET. The Celtics led the league with 64 wins last season.