"Just Celtic hate, good old Celtic hate" - Paul Pierce believes there is a deeper reason for Steve Kerr benching Jayson Tatum

After leading the reigning NBA champs, the Boston Celtics, in scoring during both the Eastern Conference and NBA Finals, Jayson Tatum has seen limited play time on Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics. While Steve Kerr says it's all due to matchups, Paul Pierce says there might be a deeper reason for it.

"This was more like a slap in the face," Pierce said on Undisputed. "After the game, Kerr was like, he felt bad. You feel like an idiot, and then you try to sit Embiid the next game to kind of justify it, like, 'Look, I sat the MVP.' Nah, that ain't what this was. Just Celtic hate, good old Celtic hate. That's all it's ever been."

Is it the Celtics hate?

Though he hasn't gotten the playing time his skill set and talent merit, Jayson's Celtics teammates, Jrue Holiday and Derrick White, have played more defined roles under coach Kerr. While Jrue has logged 20 minutes over the two games, White has gotten 15. Even though they haven't scored as much, averaging 10.0 and 6.0 points, respectively, their roles have been well-established.

According to Pierce, Tatum's lack of playing time is not surprising, given that the Celtics' main stars have been continuously disrespected since this star-studded team was assembled.

"When you are the guy for the Celtics, there's a lot of hate. I know from first-hand experience. Jaylen Brown, he can't even get in, " Pierce added. "He can't even get on the team, Finals MVP. But think about this, there's no team on planet Earth that Jayson Tatum shouldn't get minutes on."

Pre-Olympics struggles

Tatum undoubtedly deserves more time on the floor. However, international games are shorter than NBA games, which means that Kerr doesn't have as much time to rotate everyone.

Furthermore, Tatum began his tenure with 2024 Team USA, shooting 66% from the field in the first two exhibition games. However, in the subsequent three contests, he averaged only 5.6 points on 36.8% shooting from the field, indicating discomfort with reduced time on the ball.

That being said, while Pierce has the right to feel that Celtics stars have been disrespected, with Tatum not getting sufficient time and Brown not being included, it's also fair to say Jayson hasn't been great in limited minutes on the floor to warrant additional playing time from coach Kerr.

Related: "The beauty of the Olympics is none of that crap matters" - Steve Kerr on Team USA facing constant criticism