By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Jayson Tatum lived a pretty good 2024 in terms of winning in basketball. First, he led the Boston Celtics to a long-awaited NBA Championship, and then he put a gold medal around his neck at the latest Olympic Games this summer in Paris despite not playing much.
Averaging only 5.3 points and 5.3 rebounds over 17.7 minutes per game in only four appearances, resting against Serbia in both tournament’s opener and Semi-Finals clashes, he was the second least used by head coach Steve Kerr on the team, accumulating only 71 minutes throughout the competition. Only Tyrese Haliburton played less with 26 minutes in the tournament, but he was dealing with an injury.
Now, talking to The Athletic’s Jared Weiss, he recalled the Olympic experience, shutting down negative comments about his behavior. “I wasn’t moping around. I didn’t have an attitude. I wasn’t angry at the world. I stayed ready and did what was asked of me and I won a gold medal, right?”, he ironically asked.
“I know I didn’t make a jump shot when I was with Team USA. I don’t know, [it’s the] law of averages. It’s a weird rhythm thing being with Team USA; you never exactly know when you’re gonna get the ball. But that’s part of it. You sign up for that because I’ve done it before [in Tokyo]”, he also reflected.
Jayson Tatum continued. “It’s one of those things where there’s been so much talk and debate. There was a period of “Is he a superstar or not?” Then it was a big debate: “Is he championship-ready now?” Then it’s like “How could he not get in the [Olympics]?”, Boston’s superstar followed.
“I’m like, I just won a championship, it’s the summertime, and it might be nice to have a little break where you don’t turn on ESPN and they’re talking about you. But I guess this is part of it, and that may be the level that I’ve reached now in my career”, Jayson Tatum stated about media attention.
Social media pressure didn’t help either. “It was a lot. In the age of social media, you see everything. You 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’ve never been in [this] situation. It was different and it was challenging”, he said.
PHOTO CREDIT: FIBA