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Three months after the Paris Olympic Games, basketball fans continue to be dragged into the argument about Jayson Tatum’s limited minutes.
Mind you, the USA won the Gold Medal, but that didn’t stop fans from circling the Boston Celtics’ first game against the Golden State Warriors on their calendar because it’d be his first reunion with Olympic head coach Steve Kerr since.
Plus, with the Warriors and Celtics only losing one game each, it was a must-watch that didn’t disappoint in the Bay Area’s 118-112 win. The Warriors clinched a close fourth quarter with a clutch three-pointer from Buddy Hield, and despite Tatum’s 32-point performance, it was the post-game interview that showed his true competitive nature.
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He was asked about getting benched in the Paris Olympics and kept it honest.
“People want me to be louder, people want me to be meaner, whatever. One thing about Jayson is — I’m always going to do what the f-ck I want to do,” he said.
He adds that people wanting him to react or respond differently come from good places, but they’re not in his shoes. He adds that his demeanor of ” not giving a f-ck” comes from the success he’s seen and his age.
After Kerr and Tatum’s first reunion since the games, Kerr also got questioned about the benching– after he was greeted with loud boos upon entering the TD Garden.
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Kerr admits that it wasn’t personal, but with such a stacked team, he had to make tough decisions, which means some guys didn’t get a ton of minutes in certain games, like Embiid in the game against South Sudan.
But he has no regrets because it earned America its fifth straight Gold Medal.
” Do I Have any regrets? We’re just committed to winning, and we won the gold medal. So I didn’t give it a whole lot of thought, other than I didn’t enjoy not playing Jayson,” he admitted.
See how social media is reacting to the Kerr-Tatum controversy months later below.