Jayson Tatum needs no extra motivation after disappointing Olympics

Jayson Tatum needs no extra motivation after disappointing Olympics

Even though he’s coming off his first career NBA Title, it wasn’t a fruitful summer for Boston Celtics star forward Jayson Tatum when it came to the Olympics.

It’s impossible to please everyone. Tatum, 26, was squeezed out of the rotation–which featured LeBron James , Kevin Durant , Stephen Curry , Devin Booker and Anthony Edwards –for roughly half the tournament. He played 71 minutes across six games, averaging 5.3 points and 5.3 rebounds on 38.1 percent shooting.

When asked if he had extra motivation to prove any naysayers wrong heading into 2024-25, Tatum stated he didn’t have any.

“Did I need any extra motivation coming into the season? No, I’m not gonna give anybody in particular credit that they’re motivating me to come into the season,” Tatum said, according to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps. “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 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.

“But it was a good experience. We won a gold medal, I won my second one, I was around some of the best players to play the game on a daily basis, build some friendships and was able to bring my family out there and enjoy the Olympics as a whole. So that was a plus for me, for sure.”

Tatum made first-team All-NBA for the third consecutive season last year, averaging 26.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.0 steals on 47.1 percent shooting, including 37.6 percent from 3-point range (8.2 3PA) and 83.3 percent from the free-throw line. During their Finals run, he posted 25.0 points, 9.7 rebounds and 6.3 assists on 42.7/28.3/86.1 shooting splits, including 22.2 points (plus 7.8 rebounds, 7.2 assists) in five NBA Finals games against Dallas.

Tatum didn’t win Finals MVP–which went to Jaylen Brown . But Tatum walked away as an NBA champion and Gold medalist. Any NBA player would kill to have that kind of summer, even though it didn’t always go as smoothly for him, individually. That’s at least an A summer–maybe not an A+, but an A.

Tatum will also be featured in a new Netflix docuseries called, “Starting 5.” He will be featured in the series with James, Edwards, Domantas Sabonis and Jimmy Butler , where the series peels back the curtain behind the scenes for each player’s 2023-24 season. The series, which has 10 45-minute episodes produced by James’ Uninterrupted studio, will premiere Oct. 9. Again, that’s one heck of a summer.

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