Jayson Tatum opened up on how impactful the Boston Celtics' 2024 NBA Championship triumph was for him personally, after sitting through seven seasons of being criticized by fans for not being able to get the job done .
“Nah, it's still like unreal. It's like, just seeing pictures and videos of that moment. You know, people come up and say congrats all the time. It's like, man, we really did it.... You know, that was the thing that people held over my head, especially in recent years. 'He's gotten so close, but can he do it?' All the times that you have gotten close and failed. And then you finally get over the hump? That feeling is unmatched.”
Tatum averaged 26.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 4.9 assists last regular season, being named to the All-NBA First Team and leading the Celtics to sheer domination for 82 games of the season.
He averaged 25.0 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 6.3 assists in the Playoffs, leading the Celtics in scoring, but his offensive inefficiencies and inconsistencies led to teammate Jaylen Brown pipping him for both Eastern Conference and Finals MVP.
Tatum is currently representing Team USA at Paris 2024 and was expected to be one of the team's premier wings at the tournament given his role in the Tokyo 2020 Gold medal triumph. He hasn't been featured much, getting benched for USA's opener against Serbia , averaging just seven minutes played across wins over South Sudan and Puerto Rico.
Jayson Tatum Was Humbled By Team USA
Jayson Tatum has been playing an insignificant role in Team USA at the Olympics and has been humbled by the experience. Tatum reflected on being benched against Serbia , clearly caught off-guard by the decision given his emergence as an NBA superstar and champion.
"It's a unique situation, and it's not about one individual player, the competitor in you wants to play obviously, but I'm not here to make a story about myself. You win a championship, a new contract, an NBA 2K25 cover, Sports Illustrated... so after all of this, it's definitely a humbling experience. We won; I was just glad to get back out there and play again, as there was a lot of chatter over the last few days."
For what it's worth, Team USA head coach Steve Kerr seemingly sympathized, saying he felt like an idiot benching Tatum .
“It's tough but Jayson [Tatum] handled it well. I talked to him today before the game, that it may play out this way just with Kevin [Durant] coming back and the lineups I wanted to get to. But that will change, Jayson is going to play... I felt like an idiot not playing him but in a 40-minute game, you can't play more than 10, you really can't. I think he's an amazing guy, a great player, and handled it beautifully, and he'll be back out there next game."
Tatum is averaging 7.0 points and 7.5 rebounds through two games at the Olympics. It's unlikely for his minutes to get a jump now that Team USA has found their groove, but it's going to be interesting to see how he reacts to being played single-digit minutes if that trend continues.
Related: Stephen Curry Reflects On 'Fun' Team USA Experience At The Paris Olympics
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