Jayson Tatum was the best player on the NBA's best team this past season. And yet he found himself glued to the bench in Team USA's first game of the 2024 Paris Olympics on Sunday.
Tatum was a healthy scratch in Team USA's 110-84 rout of Serbia in group play, with head coach Steve Kerr explaining simply that he "went with the (lineup) combinations that made sense." The Boston Celtics star didn't say much about his surprise benching after the game, but after finally seeing playing time in Wednesday's win over South Sudan, Tatum was a bit more forthcoming.
"Definitely a humbling experience, right?" Tatum said after Wednesday's game in Lille, France about not playing Sunday, via The Athletic's Joe Vardon. "Win a championship, new contract, cover of 2K, and then you sit a whole game. Cover of Sports Illustrated. So it was definitely a humbling experience."
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Tatum's DNP-CD might have been the low point in an offseason full of highs for the three-time First-Team All-NBA selection, who already has inked a supermax contract extension and landed on the covers of the NBA 2K25 video game and Sports Illustrated while basking in the afterglow of becoming an NBA champion.
But if Tatum was irked by not playing Sunday, he insists he's moved past it.
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"It’s a unique situation and it’s not about one individual player," Tatum said. "The competitor in you wants to play, obviously. But I’m not here to make a story, making it about myself. We won.
"I was just glad to get back out there and play again (Wednesday). There was a lot of chatter over the last few days but I was in good spirits, I had a good attitude about it. I’m not holding any grudges or anything."
Tatum got the start against South Sudan but didn't exactly light it up, contributing just four points on 2-for-4 shooting over 17 minutes. Big man Joel Embiid was a DNP in the game -- further proof that All-Stars used to playing big minutes will have to make playing-time sacrifices on the 12-man squad.
While Tatum certainly falls into that category, his two Celtics teammates on Team USA -- Jrue Holiday and Derrick White -- have seen plenty of run, with White contributing 10 points Wednesday in a strong all-around performance. Tatum suggested he's enjoying watching Holiday and White play key roles.
"There’s a lot you can take from it,” Tatum said. “You can be frustrated that you want to play as a competitor, but maybe have some empathy for some guys on my (Celtics) team that don’t always get to play, or play spot minutes. So, learning experience to see it from that point of view, and just move on from it."
Team USA is back in action Saturday against Puerto Rico in its final game of group play, with tip-off set for 11:15 a.m. ET on NBC.