Jayson Tatum downplays Olympic controversy with Steve Kerr after Celtics' loss to Warriors
BOSTON -- While many saw Wednesday night's Celtics-Warriors showdown at TD Garden as a chance for Jayson Tatum to exact some revenge against Steve Kerr over his Olympic benching, the Boston star downplayed any rift with the Golden State head coach after the game.
Following Boston's 118-112 loss to the Warriors, Tatum said what happened in Paris over the summer wasn't on his mind at all.
"Just another Wednesday," Tatum said after his 32-point effort against Golden State. "Another game, another opportunity to come in and try to be the best player I can be and try to get a win."
Tatum downplays Olympic benching after first game vs. Kerr
Over the summer, Tatum made his way to Paris for the 2024 Olympic games shortly after the Celtics won the NBA Finals and celebrated through the streets of Boston. Kerr decided not to play the five-time All-Star in either of Team USA's matchups with Serbia, and Tatum averaged just 17.7 minutes over his four Olympic appearances. Only Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton saw less action than Tatum on the USA's march to Olympic gold.
Tatum said on Celtics Media Day that his experience in Paris was a difficult one, but he made it clear Wednesday that he has moved on. Many were hoping for Tatum to go scorched earth on Kerr and the Warriors on Wednesday, but as he explained after the game, that simply isn't who he is.
Tatum added that he's not going to change for anyone.
"That's part of this job. That's what I've been dealing with my entire career. People want me to be loud or to be mean or whatever," he said. "One thing about Jayson is I'm always going to do whatever the [expletive] I want to do and approach things how I want to approach in what I feel is sincere to who I am as a person.
"Not that it comes from a bad place. Sometimes it comes from a good place," Tatum continued. "People react differently, or it's easy to say if they were in my shoes what they would do. I appreciate when it comes from a good place, but like I said I'm always going to react, respond, approach things the way I want to."
Now in his eighth NBA season, Tatum said that he's learned not to care how other people think and isn't going to let the opinions of others both him.
"Excuse my language, but it's just learning how to not give a [expletive]," Tatum said. "I'm very comfortable in my own skin. I'm comfortable with the things I've accomplished. I know who I am. I'm comfortable making my own decisions and doing them the way I want to."
While Tatum downplayed any of the Olympic noise leading into the game, he had to deal with a lot of defensive attention from the Warriors once the matchup tipped off. Golden State hounded him throughout his 37 minutes on the floor, which caused some early struggles. But Tatum erupted for 17 points in the third quarter to help Boston erase a 14-point deficit and make it a close game throughout the fourth quarter.
Tatum finished 10-of-20 from the floor and 5-of-10 from downtown, adding seven points from the free-throw line. He had only two assists, but made plenty of smart reads to pass out of double teams and get the ball moving for Boston.
"I thought he did great," Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said of Tatum's game. "I thought he just gave the game what it needed, whether it was passing, whether it was screening, whether it was finishing. I mean, 50 percent from the field, 50 percent from three, got to the free throw line. So I thought he handled it well. I thought he took on the challenge of the physicality and changed up how he was attacking and found his teammates and made shots he needed to."
Steve Kerr addresses Tatum's playing time in Olympics
As expected, Kerr was greeted with a wave of boos from Boston fans when he was introduced before the game. He spoke of his decision not to play Tatum against Serbia, and said it was not because of anything he has against the Celtics star.
"Do I have any regrets? We can't control the story. That's this job," said Kerr. "From the beginning in Vegas, the whole thing was, 'Hey, we're in this together. We've got 12 Hall of Famers and we're just committed to winning.' I don't give it a ton of thought other than I didn't enjoy not playing Jayson against Serbia, not playing Joel [Embiid] against South Sudan. Those are not fun decisions, but our guys were all amazing.
"They committed to each other, they committed to winning the gold medal," added Kerr. "They all held themselves with dignity and class. That's the real story. But we live in a time where we have to talk about stuff that actually doesn't really matter."
While Kerr took time to greet Derrick White -- whom he coached in Paris -- after the buzzer sounded Wednesday night, Tatum went to the Boston locker room before interacting with the Golden State head coach.