Celtics
Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday, and Derrick White are the first trio in history to win an NBA championship and Olympic gold in the same year.
However much scrutiny surrounded Jayson Tatum in Paris, the Celtics superstar still gets to call himself an Olympic gold medalist in 2024, alongside Boston teammates Jrue Holiday and Derrick White.
Holiday played the most impactful role in the gold medal match against France, notching six points and four assists in 19 minutes of action.
Tatum, whose minutes were the subject of constant online chatter, with a mixture of fans, as well as NBA players and media, chiming in with their support of Tatum or of Team USA coach Steve Kerr’s decision to bench the All-NBA First team forward.
On Saturday, Tatum recorded 11 minutes of action, scoring two points and collecting three boards. It was his late-addition teammate, White, who didn’t see the floor against France.
Still, the trio of Celtics etched their names into history in three different ways this summer.
They’re the first trio of teammates to ever win an NBA title and Olympic gold in the same year.
Of all the great trios in NBA history, no big three has been able to capture an NBA championship and Olympic gold in the same summer.
Tatum, White, and Holiday changed that.
In fact, only twice before 2024 has an NBA duo accomplished both titles in the same year. Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen did it first in 1992, and Holiday did so with Khris Middleton in 2021 when both were members of the Milwaukee Bucks.
There have also only been eight individuals to win gold in the same year of an NBA championship. Tatum and White were just added to that list, which already included Holiday, Middleton, Jordan, Pippen, LeBron James, and Kyrie Irving.
Tatum joins two all-time greats.
No matter how rocky the road was for Tatum in Paris, he still put his name alongside arguably basketball’s two greatest players ever this year.
Tatum joined LeBron James and Michael Jordan as the only players in NBA history to win an NBA championship, Olympic gold, and garner a first-team All-NBA selection in the same year.
Tatum is building an impressive resume all before turning 27 years old. He’s well on his way toward becoming one of the greatest Celtics players of all-time, and being mentioned next two to all-time greats is pretty good company to keep.
Holiday does it twice.
For all the hoopla about players winning two championships in the same summer, this isn’t even Holiday’s first rodeo.
In 2021, the same situation occurred. Holiday helped the Bucks win the NBA title and then played for Team USA and won gold in the same summer. He now joins Pippen as the only two basketball players that managed the impressive feat on two separate occasions.
Also impressive: Holiday’s gold medal is the fourth Olympic gold in his family. Long before Holiday gained enough pedigree to represent the U.S. in the Olympics, his now wife, Lauren Holiday, already claimed two of her own. She won gold with the USWNT in 2008 and 2012.
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