In Pictures: Jayson Tatum shares Team USA Olympics memories with LeBron James and his Celtics teammates
Jayson Tatum took a backseat with Team USA as they ruled the Paris Olympics after taking down France in the gold medal game. Despite the limited time on the court, Tatum added a second Olympic gold to his collection after winning his first NBA championship in June with the Boston Celtics.
Tatum looked back on his time with the squad in an Instagram post, celebrating their achievements as a team after almost a month of being together at training camps in Las Vegas and London before competing in Paris for the Olympic Games.
The post showed his bond with his Celtics' teammates, his son Deuce, and his old rival LeBron James, who was named the tournament's MVP.
After being the star in the Celtics’ championship run, Tatum only played in four of the six Team USA games, including the crucial semifinal game against Serbia, where the team recovered from a 17-point margin to advance to the final.
In the gold medal game, he played 11 minutes, coming off the bench in the first quarter and scoring two points and three rebounds. The Celtics star played behind a star-studded small forward position that featured Team USA’s leader James, and Kevin Durant.
Team USA head coach Steve Kerr has since cited matchup problems for Tatum’s lack of playing minutes as the squad opted to play a bigger lineup when they played Serbia in the tournament. In the same case, point guard Tyrese Haliburton was also not fielded in three Olympic games.
Jayson Tatum calls his limited role in Team USA a “tough experience”
Jayson Tatum acknowledged his limited playing time in the Olympics, saying that it was a difficult experience for him, as he just came off an NBA championship run.
"It was a tough personal experience on the court, but I'm not going to make any decision off emotions," Tatum said, referring to the possibility of him re-joining the national team for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
Tatum said that he will not make any decisions right now about the 2028 Games as he still processing the emotions he felt in the Paris Olympics.
"If you asked me right now if I was going to play in 2028 -- it is four years from now and I [would have] to take time and think about that. So I'm not going to make any decision based off how this experience was or how I felt individually."
Tatum also recognized the noise his lack of playing minutes has caused but he hopes that it will only fuel him in his career.
"A lot of people text me and reached out and said 'Make sure this fuels you,' which I appreciate. There's a lot of people that care about me," Tatum said. "I think the tough part is yes, you can use things to fuel you, but I'm still human."
Tatum is one of the most decorated players on Team USA, having won three All-NBA First Team citations, and one NBA title to go along with his All-Star MVP award.