They hate this Celtics player HE OUTSHINES LEBRON in OLYMPICS TEAM
A lot has been made of star Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum in the 2024 Paris Olympics, playing for the US National Team. Critiques about his jump shot, his style, and pace of play, and even about likely imaginary grudges between the St. Louis native and Team USA Coach Steve Kerr have taken on their own life.
Tatum may be getting consistent minutes for Team USA, but is Kerr actually using him properly? Is the Duke alum a victim of his elite diversity as a basketball player? Or is this a way to distract ourselves from the US National Team steamrolling their way towards a gold medal? The hosts of the CLNS Media “First to the Floor” podcast, Jake Issenberg, Ben Vallis, and Wayne Spooney, took a closer look on a recent episode.
By Jack Simone | Aug 5, 2024
Boston Celtics, Jayson Tatum, Draymond Green, Team USA, Steve Kerr, 2024 Olympics
Boston Celtics, Jayson Tatum, Draymond Green, Team USA, Steve Kerr, 2024 Olympics / Kevin C. Cox/GettyImages
facebook
twitter
reddit
Team USA head coach benched Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum in their first game of Olympic play—a move that made waves across the basketball world. He sat out the entire night just to get placed into the starting lineup the following game. Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green is not happy with the choice.
During a recent episode of his podcast, Green unleashed a massive rant about Kerr’s decision to bench Tatum in the Olympic opener. He listed all of Tatum’s accomplishments from the last few months behind a point-blank statement: “You don’t not play Jayson Tatum.” (H/t Conor Roche of Boston.com)
“That man just won an NBA championship, he’s on the cover of NBA 2K, on the cover of Sports Illustrated, saying ‘Cheers,’ and just signed the biggest contract in NBA history,” Green continued. “Oh, and by the way, your reward is to sit down and don’t play in the first Olympic game.”
Draymond Green unuleashes furious rant about Steve Kerr benching Jayson Tatum
But that’s not where Green left things. Instead, he made an accusation. He concocted a theory that Team USA is now covering up benching Tatum because they know they made a mistake.
By benching Joel Embiid in the next game and having Jrue Holiday sit out with an ankle issue in the one after that, they were simply finding a way to make sure at least one player didn’t play.
Green is not a fan of that game plan. (H/t Kristen Wong of Sports Illustrated)
“Not playing [Tatum] was wrong,” Green said. “We all know it was wrong. He should’ve played. He didn’t… What I don’t like about it is, now, to me, it feels like a covering my tracks, proving a point type of thing to where, oh, now Joel [Embiid] is out of the lineup. And then today, Jrue [Holiday] didn’t play… From the outside looking in, it comes off as, ‘We made a mistake as a coaching staff.’”
Accusing the Team USA staff of doing something like that is completely out of pocket and wholly outlandish—which makes perfect sense for Green, who has never backed away from voicing any of his opinions.
The wildest twist of the conversation is that Green was willing to air out his insane feelings about his own coach so publicly. Obviously, he’s been fine with being unabashedly himself his entire career, but seeing it in real-time is always interesting.
Whether or not Team USA is currently trying to cover up the mistake of benching Tatum, the Celtics star is back out on the court, and his double-double against Puerto Rico is a solid way to ensure that he stays there.
"I don’t think this was humbling. This was more like a slap in the face."
The Celtics Jayson Tatum gets a hand from NBA Hall of Famer Paul Pierce as he leaves the game. New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft is in between them. The Boston Celtics hosted the Milwaukee Bucks for Game Seven of their NBA basketball Eastern Conference Semi-Final Playoff series at the TD Garden.
Paul Pierce was not happy to see Jayson Tatum benched in Team USA's Olympics opener last week. (Jim Davis/Globe Staff)
By Conor Ryan
Jayson Tatum’s surprising benching in Team USA’s Olympics-opening win over Serbia last week continues to be a sore subject for several current and former NBA players.
Former Celtics star (and noted Tatum fan) Paul Pierce joined the growing chorus of vocal critics of USA coach Steve Kerr’s decision over the last few days.
Even though Kerr stressed after Team USA’s win over Serbia that the decision to sit both Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton for the entire game revolved around matchups and the desire to carve out minutes for Kevin Durant after missing all of the U.S.’s exhibition games, Pierce believes that the decision stood as a shot across the bow at the reigning champion Celtics.
“I don’t think this was humbling. This was more like a slap in the face,” Pierce said during an appearance on FS1′s “Undisputed” on Friday. “Think about this: After the game, Kerr was like, what was the word he used? He felt bad. Felt like an idiot, and then you try and sit (Joel) Embiid in the next game to kind of justify it. Like, ‘Look, I sat the MVP.’ Nah, that ain’t what this was.
“Just Celtic hate. Good old Celtic hate,” Pierce added. “That’s all it’s ever been.”
Pierce has been far from the only basketball authority to take umbrage with the benching of Tatum, who played a key role in Team USA’s 2020 gold-medal win at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo and is considered one of the top players in the league.
Former Celtics big man and current ESPN personality Kendrick Perkins — who has been a vocal critic of Tatum for years — labeled it as “disrespect”, while even Kerr’s own player in Golden State in Draymond Green was also confused by his coach’s rationale for stapling the Celtics star to the bench.
“You don’t not play Jayson Tatum,” Green said on the latest episode of his podcast, ‘The Draymond Green Show.’ “That man just won an NBA championship, he’s on the cover of NBA 2K, on the cover of Sports Illustrated, saying ‘Cheers,’ and just signed the biggest contract in NBA history. Oh, and by the way, your reward is to sit down and don’t play in the first Olympic game.”
Since Tatum’s benching, Kerr has started him in back-to-back wins for Team USA over South Sudan and Puerto Rico. Tatum dropped a double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds) in Team USA’s victory over Puerto Rico Saturday, helping his team finish 3-0 in group play.
While it seems like Tatum’s benching might be a one-time blip as Team USA looks to take home another gold medal, Pierce stressed that the optics of Kerr’s decision will still put Tatum in a bad light.
“This guy is coming off a championship. He’s been first-team All-NBA for three straight years,” Pierce said. “You know what that means? I’m one of the five best players on the planet. On the planet for the last three years. People think I’m one of the five best players on the planet, and I can’t get in a game?
“… Let me tell you something: Jayson Tatum matches up with everybody,” Pierce continued. “… He’s athletically gifted enough to guard all those positions. Humbling as he may put it, yeah, he can say those words, but I’m gonna say this was an insult. Pure insult to a player of his caliber.”
Welcome to Billionaire Club Co LLC, your gateway to a brand-new social media experience! Sign up today and dive into over 10,000 fresh daily articles and videos curated just for your enjoyment. Enjoy the ad free experience, unlimited content interactions, and get that coveted blue check verification—all for just $1 a month!
Account Frozen
Your account is frozen. You can still view content but cannot interact with it.
Please go to your settings to update your account status.
Open Profile Settings