Celtics
“They just ruined everything for the NBA now, the USA team did.”
Several former Celtics stars, NBA players, family members, and more have come to Jayson Tatum’s defense after he was benched for a second time during the Olympics in the United States’ win over Serbia on Thursday.
Jeff Teague is looking at a possible bright side of the situation though for Tatum and his team back home. The former Celtics guard believes that Kerr’s decision to bench Tatum on multiple occasions, along with USA Basketball’s decision to keep Jaylen Brown off the roster, will motivate Boston to win a couple of more titles in the future.
“They just ruined everything for the NBA now, the USA team did, because they just built a dynasty,” Teague said on his podcast, “Club 520.” “You already told Jaylen Brown he wasn’t elite, so he already on a revenge tour. They just won the championship, you’re supposed to have a little, slight letdown.
“They gonna come out on [expletive]. [Brown] is mad he was left off. Now, you’re telling Jayson Tatum he’s the worst out of all the elites, pretty much.”
As Teague mentioned, Brown was controversially left off the men’s basketball team. When wing Kawhi Leonard was removed from the roster, Celtics guard Derrick White was added, joining teammates Tatum and Jrue Holiday.
Teague added that isn’t “OK” for Kerr to keep Tatum out of the rotation the way he did for two full games due to his status in the NBA and wondered how his former Celtics teammate thought of the situation.
“[Tatum probably is like], ‘I’m first-team All-NBA bro and I’m sitting the bench? I just won a chip, first-team All-NBA, I’m having the best year of my life. Then I go to the Olympics and y’all telling me I’m the weakest one on the team?’” Teague said.
Kerr has given a pair of different explanations for each time he benched Tatum during the Olympics. Following the group play win over Serbia, Kerr said he “went with the combinations I felt would make sense,” though he later added he “felt like an idiot” for not playing Tatum.
Kerr’s message was a bit different after Thursday’s game, saying that it was a “math problem” as international games are only 40 minutes long.
Tatum has had some struggles shooting during the Olympics. He’s 7 of 18 from the field and 0 of 9 from 3-point territory.
Still, Teague, who played with Tatum on the Celtics in the 2020-21 season, believes his former teammate will play with some vengeance next season.
“He’s gonna be on a mission, bro,” Teague said. “Y’all know I got the inside scoop, he gonna be on a mission.”
If Tatum winds up using what’s transpired in France as motivation, Teague insisted that the Celtics will wind up being thankful for it a year from now.
“If you’re a Boston Celtics fan, you should be thanking USA Basketball because now y’all got another championship on the way.”
Sign up for Celtics updates🏀
Get breaking news and analysis delivered to your inbox during basketball season.