Jayson Tatum says his Olympics benching made Joe Mazzulla ‘happiest person in the world’

"That was odd. But if you know Joe, it makes sense.”

Jayson Tatum finally got over the hump en route to his first-ever NBA championship in June.

But even after reaching the summit after several shortcomings in the playoffs, the Celtics star forward still should have plenty of motivation to draw from entering the 2024-25 season.

Not only will Tatum and a largely intact Boston roster look to defend their title this year, but the 26-year-old All-Star will look to validate a back-to-back run with a Finals MVP Trophy — which was claimed by teammate Jaylen Brown this past season.

Add in Tatum’s eventful tenure with Team USA during the 2024 Summer Olympics, and it’s clear that Tatum will be looking to prove even more doubters wrong — even after adding a title to his resume.

“Motivation, I guess you could say that if you want to simplify it. In real time, it was tough,” Tatum said of his latest stint at the Olympics. “I talked to (head coach) Joe (Mazzulla) a lot. Joe was probably the happiest person in the world that I didn’t win Finals MVP and that I didn’t play in two of the games in the Olympics. So, that was odd. But if you know Joe, it makes sense.”

Despite playing a key role in Team USA’s gold-medal victory during the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Tatum was more of an afterthought in head coach Steve Kerr’s rotations this summer in Paris.

The reigning NBA champion and three-time All-NBA First Team selection played the second-fewest minutes of any player on Team USA’s roster during the Olympics — and did not log a second of game action in two games against Serbia during the international tournament.

Given Mazzulla’s heavy emphasis on motivation and a fixed mindset on the task at hand, it should come as little surprise that Boston’s head coach is looking forward to opening camp with two motivated superstars in Tatum and Brown — who was snubbed by Team USA’s roster entirely despite his impressive playoff run.

Tatum has been candid about the challenges that came with his limited role in Team USA’s latest gold-medal run, with the star regularly ridiculed on social media as he was planted on the bench for several critical games during the summer.

But speaking on Tuesday, Tatum tried to focus on the positives that came from a summer where he further validated himself as one of the true superstars in today’s NBA landscape.

“I’m not gonna give anybody any particular credit that they’re motivating me coming into the season,” Tatum said. “It was a unique circumstance, something I haven’t experienced before in my playing career, but I’m a believer that everything happens for a reason.

“I was coming off a championship, highest of highs, cover of [NBA] 2K, a new contract, and that happened. Whatever the reason is, I haven’t figured out yet. But I am a believer that everything happens for a reason.”

Even though the Celtics will return most of the same personnel from last year’s run, Tatum stressed that Boston will still have a steep uphill climb as they look to become the first NBA team to win back-to-back championships since the Warriors in 2017 and 2018.

“Last year was amazing,” Tatum said. “We were an incredible team, and we made history. … We’ve had a target on our backs the last couple years. Nothing has changed in that aspect. If anything, we know how great it felt to win and what it took. We’re trying to go win again.”

While Tatum and the rest of his teammates are no longer plagued by questions or narratives regarding their mettle and ability to win on basketball’s highest stage, Boston’s sought-after 18th championship now gives this roster the foundation to build something even greater in 2024-25 and beyond.

“It does feel different, not from a place of being complacent,” Tatum said of finally winning a title. “Not that I’m relaxed or comfortable. It’s all about what you’re trying to achieve and trying to achieve greatness. … It was never just about just trying to win one, right?

“Now we get to be mentioned with, or at least be in the same room with the other Celtics great teams, the other great players. All the guys that I looked up to growing up at least won one championship. So now it’s just a conversation of how great are you trying to be? What room or what tier are you trying to be mentioned in when it’s all said and done?”