With his first NBA championship, Jayson Tatum brought his time with the Boston Celtics to a successful conclusion last season. Tatum experienced difficult times with Team USA shortly after the season. Tatum was benched for multiple games despite being the most recent NBA title winner, which led to criticism of head coach Steve Kerr.
The Celtics great recently had a seat with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He discussed the distinctions between his tenure with Team USA and his time with the Celtics during the conversation. Tatum said,
“We had a hell of a team last year. They were so fun to be a part of that journey that we had, how we kind of dominated in the regular season and went 16-3 in the playoffs. It looked like it was easy, but it wasn’t. It was hard. It’s exciting to be able to run it back,”
Jayson Tatum on his Olympic experience:
“It’s been a crazy summer. Fortunate enough to win my second Olympic gold medal on the national team. That was a hell of an experience. Finally won an NBA championship… that was special.”
(Via @stltoday) pic.twitter.com/Z8XnErvw6z
— Noa Dalzell 🏀 (@NoaDalzell) August 21, 2024
He also added : “We have the same team coming back. We’re even more motivated to win another one, so let’s see what we can do,”
Carmelo Anthony Talks About Jayson Tatum for Not Creating a scene
Carmelo Anthony recently discussed his impressions of Jayson Tatum’s difficult experience competing for Team USA in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. On his podcast, “7 PM in Brooklyn,” Anthony emphasized Tatum’s professionalism in spite of sitting him out of important games. Anthony said,
“I want these young athletes out here to know s—t is real out here. This man has one of the best resumes over the four or five years out of any player in any sport,”
“What he went through, I want everybody to see that s—t like that s–t hurt to go through that on national television around the world. He was resilient. He stood there, and the world knows that he’s f-king pissed,”
Tatum was noticeably rested from both Team USA’s semifinal matchup with Serbia and their group stage matchup. Throughout his four games in Paris, he averaged 5.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.0 steals per game in his diminished role.
