Jayson Tatum opens up on Steve Kerr's decision to bench him in key Olympic games: "I'm still human"
The 2024 Paris Olympics was an emotional roller-coaster for Jayson Tatum. The forward concluded his remarkable season with another glittering silverware, earning his second Olympic gold medal. However, the limited playing time, including two DNPs, likely left Tatum with a bittersweet feeling.
After Team USA's 98-87 win over France in the finals, Tatum spoke candidly about Steve Kerr's decision to bench him in the two key Olympic games against Serbia. He also said that many people reached out to him during the event, with one particular message:
"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. I think the tough part is yes, you can use things to fuel you, but I'm still human." [H/T ESPN]
When asked about his plans to play in the 2028 Summer Games, Tatum said:
"It was a tough personal experience on the court, but I'm not going to make any decision off emotions. 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." [H/T ESPN]
The Boston Celtics' superstar received DNPs in Team USA's campaign opener against Serbia and the semifinal against the same opponent. The veteran coach stood by his decision, stating that Tatum didn't fit into the team's lineup and viewed the reigning NBA champion's limited playing time as a "math problem."
Jayson Tatum is ready to learn from Olympics experience
Jayson Tatum, who was part of the All-NBA First Team in the 2023-24 season, played in four out of the six Team USA games in the Olympics. Talking about his experience at the quadrennial event, he said:
"Part of being in the moment, I've sacrificed and put a lot into this game and work really, really hard. So in the moment it is tough. You're not necessarily worried about fueling me for November or (whenever) the season is, but like I said, it's something I'm going to take away from this and learn from this experience. It's definitely challenging and humbling at the same time." [H/T ESPN]
Jayson Tatum averaged 5.3 points in 17.7 minutes per game in the Olympics and played 11 minutes in the gold medal game against France.