Jayson Tatum opens up about his ‘tough personal experience’ being benched during Paris Olympics

Team USA’s incredible run to the gold medal in the 2024 Paris Olympics was one of the many bright spots for athletes representing the United States of America, but there was something of a dark cloud that hung over the basketball team throughout its time in Paris.

That dark cloud had to do with Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum and his apparent displeasure with his lack of playing time. Following Team USA’s win over France in the championship, Tatum spoke on the “tough personal experience” that encapsulated his time at the Olympics.

Moreover, Tatum also made it clear that his experience this summer won’t impact his decision when it comes to playing in the upcoming 2028 Olympics.

As many fans in the United States know, those games will be hosted in Los Angeles.

“It was a tough personal experience on the court, but I’m not going to make any decision off emotions,” Tatum said. “If you asked me right now if I was going to play in 2028 — it is four years from now and I [would have] to take time and think about that. So I’m not going to make any decision based off how this experience was or how I felt individually.”

Tatum saw the floor in just four of Team USA’s six games. One of the games he didn’t appear in was the semifinal match against Serbia. Team USA trailed for much of that game and needed some late-game heroics from LeBron James and Stephen Curry to get the win.

Team USA head coach Steve Kerr made it clear that his decision to sit Tatum in certain games had to do with matchups. It wasn’t a great look for the newly minted NBA champion, especially when other younger members of the team such as Anthony Edwards and Tyrese Haliburton seemed more willing to play supportive roles.

A lot of fans on social media were rubbed the wrong way by Tatum’s apparent approach to being part of the team’s support rotation. However, Tatum made it clear that those in his corner remained supportive of him.

“A lot of people text me and reached out and said ‘Make sure this fuels you,’ which I appreciate. There’s a lot of people that care about me,” Tatum said. “I think the tough part is yes, you can use things to fuel you, but I’m still human.

“… Part of being in the moment, I’ve sacrificed and put a lot into this game and work really, really hard. So in the moment it is tough. You’re not necessarily worried about fueling me for November or [whenever] the season is, but like I said, it’s something I’m going to take away from this and learn from this experience. It’s definitely challenging and humbling at the same time.”

By the time the 2028 Olympic Games roll around, Tatum will be 30 years old and firmly in the middle of his prime. He is likely to be even better than he is now and one of the best players in the entire NBA. For that reason, he could very well be a focal point of that team.

However, if that ends up not being the case and Tatum is relegated to more of a supporting role like he was in 2024, it will be interesting to see how he takes it.