Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday reportedly make USA Basketball roster for Paris Olympics
BOSTON -- The Celtics hope to play basketball well into the summer as they look to bring home an NBA championship. But Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday will be playing even more ball on the Olympic stage when the NBA season wraps up.
Both Tatum and Holiday have made the initial USA Basketball roster for the 2024 Olympic games in Paris, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Monday night. Both were also on the U.S. Olympic team that won gold in Japan in 2020.
Tatum will be wearing a USA jersey for a second time after averaging 26.9 points per game for Boston during the 2023-24 season, which was good for seventh-best in the NBA. In 2020, Tatum played in six games for Team USA and averaged 20.5 points off 49.3 percent shooting, 3.3 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game.
There was a spot reserved for Holiday and his dynamic two-way game after his stellar performance for Team USA in 2020. He started five of the six games that he played in four years ago, averaging 11.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game. In his first season with the Celtics, Holiday shot a career-best 42.9 percent from 3-point range over 69 games.
The Celtics, who were an NBA-best 64-18 during the regular season, are one of just three NBA teams with multiple players on the USA Basketball roster. The Phoenix Suns -- with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker -- and the L.A. Lakers -- with LeBron James and Anthony Davis -- are the other two teams, while Steph Curry, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Haliburton, Anthony Edwards, and Bam Adebayo round out the roster.
Team USA has left one open spot on the roster, so there's a chance that Jaylen Brown could make it three Celtics on the roster. The U.S. will be going for a fifth straight gold medal this summer, with the 2024 Olympic games set to begin on July 26.
