Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum didn’t have the largest affect on the court docket throughout Crew USA’s gold medal run on the 2024 Paris Olympics this summer season.
Whereas he admitted that was a tough factor to cope with, Tatum insisted on Saturday night time that he wouldn’t let it affect his determination in the case of the subsequent Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.
Tatum got here off the bench and performed simply 11 minutes in the USA’ 98-87 win over France on Saturday, which gave Crew USA its fifth consecutive gold medal. He had two factors and three rebounds on the night time and shot 1-of-3 from the sphere.
Tatum didn’t play in both of Crew USA’s video games in opposition to Serbia, both, together with their wild 17-point comeback win within the semifinals. United States coach Steve Kerr insisted that was as a result of matchups and had nothing to do with Tatum’s efficiency or anything.
A number of different members of Crew USA had their moments after they didn’t see the court docket. Joel Embiid didn’t play in any respect in opposition to South Sudan, and Derrick White didn’t play in opposition to France on Saturday. Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton sat in three of the six Olympic video games — together with the ultimate two. He nonetheless appeared thrilled about his gold medal.
Tatum averaged 26.9 factors, 8.1 rebounds and 4.9 assists final season whereas main the Boston Celtics previous the Dallas Mavericks within the NBA Finals to assert their first championship since 2008. He agreed to a five-year, $315 million extension with the franchise after that championship run, too.
He’s undoubtedly the centerpiece of the Celtics in Boston, however Tatum needed to take a little bit of a again seat with Crew USA at instances throughout their gold medal run.
“Lots of people textual content me and reached out and stated, ‘Be sure this fuels you,’ which I respect. There’s lots of people that care about me,” Tatum stated, by way of ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. “I believe the powerful half is, sure, you need to use issues to gas you, however I am nonetheless human … A part of being within the second, I’ve sacrificed and put loads into this recreation and work actually, actually laborious. So within the second it’s powerful.
“You are not essentially frightened about fueling me for November or [whenever] the season is, however like I stated, it is one thing I am going to remove from this and study from this expertise. It is undoubtedly difficult and humbling on the similar time.”
Whereas it’s nonetheless 4 years away, Crew USA ought to look very totally different for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. LeBron James and Stephen Curry will each be of their 40s and certain gained’t be on the roster, and Kevin Durant might be 39 if he opts to play once more.
So whereas he could also be a bit annoyed with how Paris went, Tatum is making an attempt to maintain issues in perspective and keep away from making a fast determination.
“It was a troublesome private expertise on the court docket, however I am not going to make any determination off feelings,” Tatum stated. “When you requested me proper now if I used to be going to play in 2028 — it’s 4 years from now and I [would have] to take time and take into consideration that. So I am not going to make any determination primarily based off how this expertise was or how I felt individually.”