The Celts
“One of the most difficult years I have experienced personally was when I was competing in the Olympic Games.”
Jayson Tatum won a gold medal with Team USA, but didn’t play many minutes at the Olympics. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
Steve Kerr’s decision not to play Jayson Tatum in two of the United States’ Olympic victories has sparked some outcry, with several former Celtics stars criticizing the coach.
Kevin Garnett, however, has a different take on the matter. The Basketball Hall of Famer believes it’s a good thing Tatum didn’t run as much as he expected at the Olympics, as it gave him a little rest after winning an NBA title.
“One of the toughest years I’ve had personally was when I was playing in the Olympics,” Garnett said on an episode of his podcast, “KG Certified.” “Not only that, but Jayson Tatum won the NBA championship the year of the Olympics, which is probably the toughest thing to do, right? Not only does Jayson not have a summer to relax and recharge and get ready for another year, but you have to set a time when you can play. [play] for the American team. This is serious business.
Even though Tatum is only 26, he has already played a lot of minutes in his NBA career due to his durability and Boston’s strong playoff run. He led the Celtics in total minutes last season, logging 2,645 minutes in the regular season (16th in the NBA) and 768 in the playoffs. As of March, he had played 1,455 more minutes than anyone in the NBA since being drafted in 2017, according to Boston Sports Info.
Garnett can relate to Tatum in this regard. He played all but 11 regular-season games in his first five seasons in the league (averaging 36.9 minutes per game) before playing for USA Basketball in the 2000 Summer Olympics. The Sydney Games were also held in September of that year, giving players on that team less time to rest between the end of the Olympics and the start of the NBA season.
Garnett had a breakout year after the Olympics, finishing fifth in MVP voting in the 2000-01 season. But unlike Tatum, Garnett wasn’t coming off a title run, having been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs the previous season.
Still, Garnett has some idea of how tired Tatum is after a long year of basketball.
“It was great that he didn’t have to play a lot of minutes,” Garnett said. “He just finished the Finals. I know [Derrick White] And [Jrue] The holidays were here, but we had to play big minutes [for] “The United States, I’m glad they didn’t need Jayson Tatum. I’m glad he got to rest and relax.”
With Tatum coming off a title streak, Garnett speculated that the Celtics star may have had a dialogue with USA Basketball about having a lighter workload with the team.
“When he got those DNPs, I bet there was a conversation with him and Grant Hill or management about him coming into the team and getting some rest,” Garnett said. “When you win, you get less playing time. [offseason]. Everyone has four or five months off and you probably have two, two and a half months? And then we go straight back to the lab.
Tatum had justified his tardiness to the team’s training camp in Las Vegas in early July, arriving a few days late for an undisclosed reason. But he seemed a bit surprised that he didn’t play in both games against Serbia and that he was the team’s second-fewest minutes player during the Olympics.
“It was a tough personal experience on the court, but I’m not going to make a decision based on my emotions,” Tatum told reporters after Team USA’s victory over France in the gold medal game, when asked if he would return to the team for the 2028 Olympics. “If you were to ask me now if I was going to play in 2028, that’s four years away and I don’t think that’s the case. [would have] “I’m going to take some time to think about it. So I’m not going to make a decision based on what I’ve experienced or what I’ve felt individually.”
Regardless, Tatum’s summer marked just the tenth time a player has won an NBA title and an Olympic gold medal in the same year (Holiday and White being responsible for two of those occasions). So far, only Michael Jordan (1992-93), Scottie Pippen (1992-93, 1996-97) and LeBron James (2012-13) have been the only players to win the NBA title again the following year.
With Tatum, Holiday and White looking to join that company, Garnett is happy the Celtics star was able to save some miles. He also appreciated how Tatum approached the situation.
“I can only imagine how hard that was for him,” Garnett said. “But I salute JT, man. I don’t think you heard him bickering. I didn’t hear any echoes of discontent or anything like that. I just think he was trying to cope and deal with it on a micro level.”
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