The start of the 2024 Olympics in Paris featured an eye-opening decision from Team USA basketball head coach Steve Kerr in a 110-84 opening victory against Serbia. With the Americans’ roster loaded with talent, Kerr left Jayson Tatum (and Tyrese Haliburton) on the bench for the entirety of the first game.
The move came as a shock initially, although Kerr proceeded to hand Joel Embiid a DNP-CD in the game that followed against South Sudan. Still, the decision on Tatum, who’s fresh off winning a title with the Boston Celtics and signing a five-year extension worth up to $315M, has been a popular topic of discussion.
Following that decision, at least one of Tatum’s teammates on the Celtics, Payton Pritchard, believes the All-Star guard will come back and need to prove doubters wrong once again. And as he told “The Point Forward Podcast,” Pritchard is excited to see Tatum prove critics wrong once again.
“I’m excited to see what he does with that. That just adds more fuel to the fire.” Pritchard said, via SB Nation. “Now you gotta show people again because they doubting. I’m looking forward to JT proving them wrong.”
The good news for the Celtics is that Tatum silencing critics this past season played at least a small part in the team winning the NBA title in dominant fashion. Boston, the top seed in the Eastern Conference, was a full 14 games ahead of the No. 2 seed New York Knicks and proceeded to lose only three games in the playoffs and no more than one in any single series.
After averaging 26.9 points, 8.1 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game while shooting 47.1 percent from the field in the regular season, Tatum posted an exceptionally well-rounded stat line in the postseason. He averaged 25.0 points, 9.7 rebounds and 6.3 assists, putting his full skill set on display on the biggest stage.
Team USA is scheduled to play Serbia in the semifinal on Thursday at 3 p.m. ET.
