(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
By all accounts, Jayson Tatum is one of the best players in the NBA.
Even though his critics claim the Boston Celtics don’t need him to win, and while that could be somewhat true to a degree, there’s just no way to take anything away from him.
However, there’s a distinction between being one of the best players in the league and being the player your team needs you to be.
That’s how Steve Kerr felt when he didn’t feature him as often as most people would like during the Olympics.
Tatum’s playing time — or lack thereof — was a regular talking point during the tournament.
Even so, looking back, Celtics star Jrue Holiday believes it wasn’t an issue at all with Tatum.
Jrue Holiday mentioned that he didn’t feel the need to discuss playing time with Jayson Tatum during the Olympics, and
that the ultimate goal was just winning gold.
“I think everybody knows JT. He’s the ultimate professional. He knows what it is, what the ultimate goal is.” pic.twitter.com/M20CVJuQ2W
— Justin Turpin (@JustinmTurpin) August 28, 2024
Holiday stated that his Celtics teammate was the ultimate professional, adding that the ultimate goal was to win the gold medal.
Coach Kerr claimed that he could only play so many players in the limited amount of minutes available.
One could argue that he could’ve found ways to get a star like Tatum on the court, and others thought it was disrespectful to Tatum to have him travel and practice and barely play.
Then again, how is it disrespectful to be one of the few players getting the honor to play for their country in the most prestigious basketball event on Earth?
The ultimate goal was to win, and win they did.
If Team USA had lost without Tatum, perhaps people could’ve had this debate.
But if you’re going to play for the national team, it’s never about one individual.
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