PARIS — As he made his way out of Bercy Arena late Saturday night, snaking through the postgame interview area known as the mixed zone, Jayson Tatum palmed the newest piece of hardware hanging around his neck. The gold medal he won thanks to Team USA’s 98-87 win over France — his second career gold medal to go with the one he won in Tokyo — holds a pretty cool distinction in that it includes a piece of the Eiffel Tower. What it doesn’t contain for Tatum is much peace of mind, with the Celtics star leaving Paris still wondering what he did wrong to fall so far down coach Steve Kerr’s rotation.
At the tail end of an incredible summer — his first NBA championship, a lucrative new contract extension, the cover of his favorite NBA video game, and now, another gold medal — there’s no chance now of Tatum being complacent. Blame Kerr if Tatum returns as an NBA monster next season. Blame USA Basketball if the Celtics have two ticked-off stars out to prove how wrong these guys were.
When Tatum is paired again with fellow superstar Jaylen Brown, the Finals MVP who couldn’t even make the roster that came to Paris, sparks should fly. Advertisement “I mean, a lot of people texted me and reached out and were like, ‘Make sure this fuels you,’ which I appreciate,” Tatum said. “There’s a lot of people that care about me.
But I think the tough part is, yes, you can use things to fuel you, but, you know, I’m still human, and it’s still a human aspect, part of being in the moment. I sacrificed and put a lot into this game and worked really, really hard. “So, you know, in the moment it is tough, so I’m not necessarily worried about fueling me for November or whatever the season is.
But like I said, it’s something I’m going to take away from this and learn and from this experience, definitely challenging and humbling at the same time. I had fun. I did.
It was a great team of guys to be around, we went to some great cities and different countries, and we won the gold medal.” Advertisement Classy words. But maybe, words of warning.
Tatum isn’t one generally inclined to share his deepest thoughts, but after a strange and inexplicable personal journey in these Olympics, where even his mother wondered on social media why her son was so out of favor, he opened up. “It was challenging,” he said. “I can’t lie.
It was challenging. Especially after the experience of the highest of the highest winning a championship, and then put in a new situation where you’ve never been in that spot before. But you know, I didn’t want to make it about me.
I got a chance to come to work with 11 other guys I got nothing but love and respect for. And you know, we won. I’m happy about that.
” Why couldn’t he crack the rotation in any meaningful way? Was it really “just a math problem more than anything,” as Kerr insisted after the second of Tatum’s dumbfounding DNPs here in Paris? Sure, Tatum got 11:09 of playing time Saturday, but that only got him to 71:09 total minutes for the tournament. Tatum didn’t bother to ask. “No.
I just stayed a professional,” he said. “I came to work every day. Just stay ready.
We got great guys on this team and while you feel like you deserve to play and the competitor in you wants to play, as a coach for a reason he makes those decisions. Your job as a player is to stay ready whenever your number is called.” Weeks ago, before the team even played its first official game, Kerr was full of praise not only for Tatum, but for the trio of Celtics on Team USA’s roster, complimenting the “humility” Tatum, Derrick White, and Jrue Holiday had packed in their Paris luggage.
There was no Celtic braggadocio, nary a public boast or beaten chest after a romp through the NBA Finals won Boston its record 18th franchise title. Advertisement There was no preening or trash-talking around a locker room full of All-Stars and champs. Kerr insisted he was impressed by the way the Celtics had put team above self throughout their entire season, and that he admired the group’s tenacity in finally crashing through the championship door they’d been knocking on for years.
But he also insisted that same day “nobody cares about the NBA right now” and that “the beauty of USA Basketball is that these guys get to throw all the NBA stuff out the window and they get to join forces and share the responsibility and try to accomplish something really special together.” It’s a lovely sentiment, and for the duration of the Olympic tournament, an appropriate one. But the minute Saturday night’s game ended, NBA business is back.
And back to two motivated Celtics stars. Brown, whose beef isn’t with Kerr but with USA Basketball as a whole, for being snubbed before these Olympics even started. Tatum for being ignored once it did.
Together, they head into the 2024-25 NBA season with easy fuel at their disposal, a well of slights and affronts from this Olympic experience ready to be poured into their upcoming title defense. If the Warriors coach was already a Boston villain for denying the Celtics a championship in 2022, if he was already a rival for being the most recent coach to lead an NBA team to back-to-back titles like the Celtics want to do next season, he has more than upped the anger ante in the Hub City. While it isn’t likely to be the fading Warriors who feel the pain of a Celtics team on a mission, it’s Kerr who’ll be left apologizing to the rest of the league for awakening what might have been a satisfied beast.
Advertisement Watch out. Tara Sullivan is a Globe columnist. She can be reached at tara.
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