Some things never change for Jayson Tatum. As his career has continued to ebb and flow, there has been one constant: Tatum finds himself at the center of conversation.
He broke onto the NBA scene as an impressive role player when he was 19, only to oscillate in the public eye between auspicious and overhyped. Leading the Boston Celtics to a title in June gave him a championship pass, a final word to put questions of his stardom to bed.
But it took just a few weeks for the conversation to start again. This time, the tenor was different. As a member of Team USA, Tatum (alongside Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton) didn’t make it off the bench in the Olympics opener against Serbia. Though Tatum played in four of the other five games — he sat again against Serbia in the semifinals — his benching became one of the talking points of the tournament.
“It’s one of those things where there’s been so much talk and debate,” Tatum said. “There was a period of is he a superstar or not? Then it was a big debate, like, is he championship ready now? Then it’s like how could he not get in the (Olympics)? I’m like, I just won a championship, it’s the summertime, it might be nice to have a little break where you don’t turn on ESPN and they’re talking about you. But I guess this is part of it, and that may be the level that I’ve reached now in my career.”
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Even though he was in the Olympic Village and avoided discussing it publicly while the Games were still going, Tatum was aware of what was happening outside of Paris. And while this was one of the rare times in which the public seemed to have his back, it still wasn’t easy for him.
“It was a lot. In the age of social media, you see everything,” Tatum said during a phone call. “You see all the tweets and the people on the podcasts and people on TV giving their opinion on whether they thought it was a good decision or it was an outrageous decision or whatever. Obviously, I wanted to contribute more, and I’ve never been in (this) situation. I started playing basketball at (age) 3 at the YMCA, and I’ve never not played, so it was different and it was challenging.”
Team USA head coach Steve Kerr attributed his decision to matching up against Nikola Jokić and the big Serbia roster, then proved he meant it by playing Tatum in every remaining game except for the Serbia rematch in the semifinals.
Ironically, his Celtics teammate Jrue Holiday was a beneficiary of Tatum’s benching as he started those matchups against Serbia. But Holiday said Wednesday he felt the whole situation might have been blown out of proportion with the amount of coverage it got across the basketball world.
“When you see it everywhere all the time and people are talking about it and I’m hearing about it all the time, I’m like, ‘Man, I can only just imagine what he’s going through,’” Holiday said. “I feel like he enjoyed himself and I feel like that’s a part of the experience, is enjoying it. I hope he got a chance to (enjoy) it, because I did. It’s fun to play with him and (Derrick) White, but then it’s also fun to play with some of the best players ever.”
“I wasn’t moping around. I didn’t have an attitude. I wasn’t angry at the world,” Tatum said. “I stayed ready and did what was asked of me and I won a gold medal, right?”
Beyond the rotation limitations, there was another reason for Tatum to get knocked down the depth chart. After shooting lights out in the second half of the regular season, he has been on the worst cold streak of his career since the playoffs began.
“I know I didn’t make a jump shot when I was with Team USA. I don’t know, law of averages,” Tatum said. “It’s a weird rhythm thing being with Team USA; you never exactly know when you’re gonna get the ball. But that’s part of it. You sign up for that because I’ve done it before (at the Tokyo Games).”
Tatum and those around him have maintained he is not injured and hasn’t lost confidence in his shot. Though he shot 28.3 percent from deep in the playoffs and missed every jumper he took while on Team USA, he said he’s been playing basketball long enough that he’s not worried about getting back on track by October.
“I have two (gold medals) now, I have a championship, and everything doesn’t necessarily go the way you expect it to go, right?” Tatum said. “I’ve learned to be like, ‘OK, that’s a part of it.’ You move on, and I’m getting ready to enjoy the last little weeks I have before the season starts and get ready for another season.”
Tatum’s summer has been full of success on and off the court. He was named the NBA 2K25 cover athlete, he has a children’s book coming out Sept. 10, and he signed the largest contract extension in NBA history (for now).
Jayson Tatum lifts his son, Deuce, after the Celtics won the NBA title at home in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Things have finally slowed down, so Tatum can focus on spending the rest of the summer with his 6-year-old son Deuce before he starts first grade. As Tatum continues to learn how to handle the increasingly bright spotlight, his son is starting to understand who his father is to the rest of the world.
“Being at school, I guess, made him realize how big of a deal it was (for) us winning a championship or competing for it,” Tatum said. “He just thought that was normal until he went to school and people are talking about the Celtics and us winning and us trying to compete for a championship. I think he realized the magnitude of that, being around kids his age and even the older kids in fourth, fifth grade.”
Last season he would show up to Deuce’s school often to spend time with his son’s classmates and teachers. Tatum said he loved reading to his son’s class as the kids got excited. Deuce got a taste of what it was like to be his dad when he was the talk of his school as a kindergartner. While his son is growing up fast, Tatum said he’s is learning as a parent to let go.
“I’m not gonna lie, I was nervous, at first, to send him to school,” Tatum said. “Just because you’re putting your most prized possession, your own child, in the care of somebody else five days a week, which is obviously a normal thing. Kids go to school. But at first, I was nervous.”
Once Deuce starts school, Tatum can turn his attention to his day job. His goal for the Celtics is to make sure they don’t lose their sense of urgency next season. He said they will have to fight the urge to be complacent, something they succeeded with last year under Joe Mazzulla.
The Celtics were fitted for their rings two weeks ago, and Tatum said everyone was excited by the process. When the team came into the facility earlier this month, he told everyone they needed to make sure their title celebration was short-lived once the games began.
“I’m of the mindset that after ring night, in a weird way, we got to put that behind (us),” he said. “Last year was last year. We did it. It was a dream come true. We worked our ass off for it. But after ring night, we gotta move on. We gotta get ready for game two.”
Tatum and the Celtics came up short so many times in the past before finally breaking through this summer. Just one championship changed their reputations and perspective, even though they came so close so many times.
But this summer wasn’t perfect for Tatum. With all his success came a humbling experience as well. Those moments in prior seasons helped hone him into the Celtics’ best player, a now officially championship-caliber superstar. So the Team USA benching, even if it may have been blown out of proportion in the grand scheme of things, may benefit Tatum in the long run.
“I’m always a glass-half-full type of guy,” he said. “I always believe everything happens for a reason and whatever that is, I don’t know yet. But I’m certain I’ll find out.”
(Top photo: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5729821/2024/08/29/jayson-tatum-team-usa-benching-boston-celtics/
