Jayson Tatum made his return to the court for USA’s win over France on Saturday in the gold medal game. However, his lack of playing time throughout the tournament has fueled uncertainty over Tatum’s future with USA Basketball. The Celtics All-Star did not play in two games for USA in the Olympics including a semifinal matchup against Serbia on Thursday. He scored two points in 11 minutes during the Americans 98-87 win over France on Saturday but deflected questions about his Olympic future afterward to reporters.
“It was a tough personal experience on the court, but I’m not going to make any decision off emotions,” Tatum told reporters in Paris. “If you asked me right now if I was going to play in 2028, it is four years from now and I [would have] to take time and think about that. So I’m not going to make any decision based off how this experience was or how I felt individually.
“I keep trying to say, I’m trying not to make it about me. I know that’s the storyline the last few days, but we won. We won a gold medal, and that was most important.”
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Tatum struggled offensively during the tournament and in the exhibition contests beforehand, coming off a Celtics Finals win. He averaged 5.3 points per game and shot just 38 percent from the field, the lowest mark on the roster. Still, several less accomplished players received consistent playing time over him throughout the tournament, to the surprise of many in the basketball community.
“It’s not what I’m not seeing from Jayson, it’s what I’ve seen from the other guys,” Kerr told reporters in Paris Friday. “Like I’ve said many times during this tournament and the last six weeks, it’s just hard to play 11 people, even in an NBA game … So it’s not about what Jayson is doing or not doing. It’s just about combinations and the way that group has played together, the way Kevin [Durant] has filled in since he came back from his injury. It’s just a math problem more than anything.”
Tatum has received the support of many NBA stars and pundits throughout his surprising benching and he acknowledged
“A lot of people text me and reached out and said ‘Make sure this fuels you,’ which I appreciate. There’s a lot of people that care about me,” Tatum told reporters in Paris. “I think the tough part is yes, you can use things to fuel you, but I’m still human.”
The Celtics are set to start training camp in just over a month and Tatum hinted that his Olympic rollercoaster would be put to use as Boston attempts to repeat.
“I’ve sacrificed and put a lot into this game and work really, really hard. So in the moment it is tough. You’re not necessarily worried about fueling me for November or [whenever] the season is, but like I said, it’s something I’m going to take away from this and learn from this experience. It’s definitely challenging and humbling at the same time.”
