{"id":183226,"date":"2025-07-20T10:59:35","date_gmt":"2025-07-20T10:59:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/183226\/"},"modified":"2025-07-20T10:59:35","modified_gmt":"2025-07-20T10:59:35","slug":"jayson-tatum-discusses-debate-over-olympic-benching-celtics-nba-title-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/183226\/","title":{"rendered":"Jayson Tatum discusses \u2018debate\u2019 over Olympic benching, Celtics\u2019 NBA title and more"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some things never change for Jayson Tatum<\/a>. As his career has continued to ebb and flow, there has been one constant: Tatum finds himself at the center of conversation.<\/p>\n

He broke onto the NBA<\/a> scene as an impressive role player when he was 19, only to oscillate in the public eye between auspicious and overhyped. Leading the Boston Celtics to a title in June<\/a> gave him a championship pass, a final word to put questions of his stardom to bed.<\/p>\n

But it took just a few weeks for the conversation to start again. This time, the tenor was different. As a member of Team USA, Tatum (alongside Pacers<\/a> guard Tyrese Haliburton<\/a>) didn\u2019t make it off the bench in the Olympics<\/a> opener against Serbia. Though Tatum played in four of the other five games \u2014 he sat again against Serbia in the semifinals \u2014 his benching became one of the talking points of the tournament<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one of those things where there\u2019s been so much talk and debate,\u201d Tatum said. \u201cThere was a period of is he a superstar or not? Then it was a big debate, like, is he championship ready now? Then it\u2019s like how could he not get in the (Olympics)? I\u2019m like, I just won a championship, it\u2019s the summertime, it might be nice to have a little break where you don\u2019t turn on ESPN and they\u2019re talking about you. But I guess this is part of it, and that may be the level that I\u2019ve reached now in my career.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Even though he was in the Olympic Village and avoided discussing it publicly while the Games were still going, Tatum was aware of what was happening outside of Paris. And while this was one of the rare times in which the public seemed to have his back, it still wasn\u2019t easy for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a lot. In the age of social media, you see everything,\u201d Tatum said during a phone call. \u201cYou see all the tweets and the people on the podcasts and people on TV giving their opinion on whether they thought it was a good decision or it was an outrageous decision or whatever. Obviously, I wanted to contribute more, and I\u2019ve never been in (this) situation. I started playing basketball at (age) 3 at the YMCA, and I\u2019ve never not played, so it was different and it was challenging.\u201d<\/p>\n

Team USA head coach Steve Kerr attributed his decision to matching up against Nikola Joki\u0107<\/a> and the big Serbia roster, then proved he meant it by playing Tatum in every remaining game except for the Serbia rematch in the semifinals.<\/p>\n

Ironically, his Celtics<\/a> teammate Jrue Holiday<\/a> was a beneficiary of Tatum\u2019s benching as he started those matchups against Serbia. But Holiday said Wednesday\u00a0he felt the whole situation might have been blown out of proportion with the amount of coverage it got across the basketball world.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you see it everywhere all the time and people are talking about it and I\u2019m hearing about it all the time, I\u2019m like, \u2018Man, I can only just imagine what he\u2019s going through,’\u201d Holiday said. \u201cI feel like he enjoyed himself and I feel like that\u2019s a part of the experience, is enjoying it. I hope he got a chance to (enjoy) it, because I did. It\u2019s fun to play with him and (Derrick) White, but then it\u2019s also fun to play with some of the best players ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t moping around. I didn\u2019t have an attitude. I wasn\u2019t angry at the world,\u201d Tatum said. \u201cI stayed ready and did what was asked of me and I won a gold medal, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond the rotation limitations, there was another reason for Tatum to get knocked down the depth chart. After shooting lights out in the second half of the regular season, he has been on the worst cold streak of his career since the playoffs began.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know I didn\u2019t make a jump shot when I was with Team USA. I don\u2019t know, law of averages,\u201d Tatum said. \u201cIt\u2019s a weird rhythm thing being with Team USA; you never exactly know when you\u2019re gonna get the ball. But that\u2019s part of it. You sign up for that because I\u2019ve done it before (at the Tokyo Games).\u201d<\/p>\n

Tatum and those around him have maintained he is not injured and hasn\u2019t lost confidence in his shot. Though he shot 28.3 percent from deep in the playoffs and missed every jumper he took while on Team USA, he said he\u2019s been playing basketball long enough that he\u2019s not worried about getting back on track by October.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have two (gold medals) now, I have a championship, and everything doesn\u2019t necessarily go the way you expect it to go, right?\u201d Tatum said. \u201cI\u2019ve learned to be like, \u2018OK, that\u2019s a part of it.\u2019 You move on, and I\u2019m getting ready to enjoy the last little weeks I have before the season starts and get ready for another season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tatum\u2019s summer has been full of success on and off the court. He was named the NBA 2K25<\/a> cover athlete, he has a children\u2019s book coming out Sept. 10, and he signed the largest contract extension in NBA history<\/a> (for now).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Jayson Tatum lifts his son, Deuce, after the Celtics won the NBA title at home in Boston. (AP Photo\/Charles Krupa)<\/p>\n

Things have finally slowed down, so Tatum can focus on spending the rest of the summer with his 6-year-old son Deuce before he starts first grade. As Tatum continues to learn how to handle the increasingly bright spotlight, his son is starting to understand who his father is to the rest of the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing at school, I guess, made him realize how big of a deal it was (for) us winning a championship or competing for it,\u201d Tatum said. \u201cHe just thought that was normal until he went to school and people are talking about the Celtics<\/a> and us winning and us trying to compete for a championship. I think he realized the magnitude of that, being around kids his age and even the older kids in fourth, fifth grade.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last season he would show up to Deuce\u2019s school often to spend time with his son\u2019s classmates and teachers. Tatum said he loved reading to his son\u2019s class as the kids got excited. Deuce got a taste of what it was like to be his dad when he was the talk of his school as a kindergartner. While his son is growing up fast, Tatum said he\u2019s is learning as a parent to let go.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not gonna lie, I was nervous, at first, to send him to school,\u201d Tatum said. \u201cJust because you\u2019re putting your most prized possession, your own child, in the care of somebody else five days a week, which is obviously a normal thing. Kids go to school. But at first, I was nervous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once Deuce starts school, Tatum can turn his attention to his day job. His goal for the Celtics is to make sure they don\u2019t lose their sense of urgency next season. He said they will have to fight the urge to be complacent, something they succeeded with last year under Joe Mazzulla.<\/p>\n

The Celtics were fitted for their rings two weeks ago, and Tatum said everyone was excited by the process. When the team came into the facility earlier this month, he told everyone they needed to make sure their title celebration was short-lived once the games began.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m of the mindset that after ring night, in a weird way, we got to put that behind (us),\u201d he said. \u201cLast year was last year. We did it. It was a dream come true. We worked our ass off for it. But after ring night, we gotta move on. We gotta get ready for game two.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tatum and the Celtics came up short so many times in the past before finally breaking through this summer. Just one championship changed their reputations and perspective, even though they came so close so many times.<\/p>\n

But this summer wasn\u2019t perfect for Tatum. With all his success came a humbling experience as well<\/a>. Those moments in prior seasons helped hone him into the Celtics\u2019 best player, a now officially championship-caliber superstar. So the Team USA benching, even if it may have been blown out of proportion in the grand scheme of things, may benefit Tatum in the long run.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m always a glass-half-full type of guy,\u201d he said. \u201cI always believe everything happens for a reason and whatever that is, I don\u2019t know yet. But I\u2019m certain I\u2019ll find out.\u201d<\/p>\n

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