The 2024 Olympics didn’t go the way Jayson Tatum may have wanted. Well, he helped Team USA win a gold medal, so that statement can only go so far. But head coach Steve Kerr benching him multiple times throughout the run started a storm that took over the basketball world.
Fresh off a championship with the Boston Celtics, most expected Tatum to play a big role for Team USA, especially after he was their second-leading scorer in the 2020 Olympics. They took home gold there, too.
Tatum maintained a team-first mindset throughout his time with Team USA, but now that their Olympic run has ended, he’s seemingly making his feelings known—even if the message was a bit indirect.
Jayson Tatum shares vengeful message to Instagram after getting benched by Team USA in 2024 Olympics
The Celtics star reposted a tweet from rapper Vince Staples to his Instagram story. The message read, “WE WILL AVENGE JAYSON TATUM.”
Jayson Tatum shared this on IG 👀 pic.twitter.com/TFHdHXkfQ8
— Justin Turpin (@JustinmTurpin) August 12, 2024
Maybe there are some other things going on in Tatum’s life that people don’t know about, or maybe Tatum just likes Staples, but this seems to be a pretty clear message about the Olympics. Perhaps Tatum isn’t very happy after all. There’s only so much team-first thinking a guy can do.
In an article by Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe, Tatum revealed that it felt weird not to play for such long stretches.
“You feel like you deserve to play and the competitor in you wants to play,” Tatum said. “And is the coach for a reason. He makes those decisions.”
For a player so used to being the focal point of his team, barely playing with Team USA was a massive switch-up.
“It was a tough personal experience on the court, but I’m not going to make any decisions off emotions,” Tatum said Saturday. “If you asked me right now if I’m going to play in 2028, it’s four years from now. I’d have to take time and think about that. So I’m not going to make any decision based on how this experience was, or how I feel individually. I keep trying to say, I’m trying not to make it about me. I know that’s the storyline the last few days, but we won. We won a gold medal, and that was most important.”
Now, Tatum will shift his focus back to Celtics basketball, and this experience could be used as a springboard into the season.
With him getting benched and Jaylen Brown not even making the team in general, Boston could be very motivated coming off their title run. And based on his latest Instagram posting, Tatum seems locked in.
“It’s something I can learn from,” Tatum said. “I don’t know exactly what it is yet, but everything happens for a reason, and I’m certain there’s something I can take away from this.”