Jayson Tatum's Dad Responds To His Son's Limited Playing Time For Team USA

Celtics star Jayson Tatum is undoubtedly one of the best players in the world but he was on the edge of the rotation for Team USA this summer and it rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. One such person was Tatum's father, Justin, who recently spoke out about the 2024 Olympic Games.

“I was OK with it if it made sense. If it made sense not to play him like a matchup, but if you can’t find time for him or whatever Steve Kerr said. That don’t make too much sense. He wasn’t good with not playing. But he wasn’t in the room pouting or throwing chairs around or it was a topic of conversation at dinner," Justin told Andscape's Marc Spears. "He said he could’ve stayed with his family, stayed home or done this, which is true. But he was happy to be out there winning the gold and he never really played with LeBron [James], Steph [Curry] or KD [Kevin Durant]. Being around those guys was a great experience and the main thing we were talking about.”

Team USA coach Steve Kerr tried to come up with some excuse but it's clear that not everybody bought it. For the majority of the Olympics, Kerr went with an 8-man rotation and Tatum was often the odd man out on a team with LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Devin Booker on the wing. This summer, through six games, he averaged just 5.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.0 steals in 17.7 minutes. He got two DNPs in the tournament, including in the Semifinals against Serbia.

Fans and experts were going crazy trying to understand Tatum's limited role and it wasn't until after head coach Steve Kerr got backlash for Tatum's playing time, that we got some answers on why Tatum could not get the minutes that he felt he rightfully deserved.

"Do I have any regrets? We can't control the story," said Kerr via Justin Turpin. "We won the gold medal... I didn't enjoy not playing Jayson... those are not fun decisions, but our guys were all amazing."

Tatum was one of the early invites to join the Team USA roster and fans expected heavy minutes for him after winning the championship with the Boston Celtics. So for him to get overlooked in favor of other stars was a major gut-punch for the young Celtics star.

This season, the 26-year-old hooper will be looking to prove himself once again and it continues tonight against the same coach who stuck him on the bench.  If Tatum can play well and make a statement with his influence on the court, it will bode well for his redemption arc and maybe create some progress toward elevating his legacy and status among the fans.

Either way, after winning the title in 2024, the Celtics are the favorites to do it again and that would be all the validation that Tatum needs. So far, at 7-1, the Celtics are off to a great start for their title defense and Tatum is leading the charge every step of the way.