Jayson Tatum appreciated the messages he was getting from his fans after he was given limited playing time in the most crucial games for Team USA’s Paris Olympics men’s basketball gold bid.
Tatum was benched and never used during Team USA’s come-from-behind semifinal win against Serbia and played only 11 minutes in the final against France.
Tatum, who is known to be a steady player in the clutch, would have been very helpful in the endgame for both outings.
Instead, head coach Steve Kerr relied heavily on his superstar at the Golden State Warriors, Stephen Curry, as well as former Warriors Kevin Durant and LeBron James, as Team USA escaped both European teams en route to the Olympic championship.
“A lot of people texted 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,” Tatum said in an interview with ESPN after clinching the Olympic gold.
The messages he got referred to his upcoming stint with the Boston Celtics as they defend their NBA championship next season.
Popular belief had it that this could be Curry, Durant, and James’s last Olympic run under Team USA, and Tatum, who will be 30 years old by 2028, will be among the national team’s leaders in its Olympic home stand at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California.
However, Tatum declined to comment on whether he will commit to Team USA again, saying, “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 [would be] 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 on how this experience was or how I felt individually.”
Jayson Tatum says Paris Olympics campaign ‘humbling’
Jayson Tatum was part of Team USA’s 2021 Tokyo Olympics, team, which won gold at the expense of the gritty French squad.
This year, though, Tatum, along with Derrick White and Jrue Holiday, came off an NBA championship run with the Celtics, so many expected that the six-foot-eight forward would be stellar for Team USA as well.
However, the limited minutes and DNPs disappointed fans, and Tatum admitted that he might have a lesson or two learned here as his superstar career continues.
“Part of being in the moment, I’ve sacrificed and put a lot into this game and worked 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,” Tatum said.
After the Olympic run, Tatum focuses on giving Boston back-to-back NBA titles.
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