Team USA legend addresses Jayson Tatum's Olympic fiasco

It's always challenging for No. 1 scoring options in the NBA to adapt to FIBA basketball, especially on a team full of certified bucket-getters. In Team USA's case, 10 of the 12 players at the Paris Olympics — except for Jrue Holiday and Derrick White — averaged 20 or more points for their respective teams last season.

As such, sacrifices were key to making the whole thing work.

Jayson Tatum is one star who didn't make the requisite adjustment to thrive in Paris, per Carmelo Anthony, Team USA's third-leading points scorer in history. While praising Devin Booker's ability to evolve at the Games, Anthony threw shade at Tatum for not doing the same as his superstar peer.

"With Jayson Tatum, I don't know if it was a role he was ready to accept," Anthony said on his "7PM in Brooklyn" podcast. "Or if it was communicated to him what his role was. They wanted him to do what Devin Booker did — be a stretch four, space the court, play defense, and that's it. But if you're not told your role and told to figure it out, right now if I get in the game I'm overthinking. We're humans, too. Basketball players are human, athletes are human."

Anthony then blamed Team USA's coaches for not defining Tatum's role, while sympathizing with the Celtics star for receiving two DNPs during the six games in Paris. The retired star said he'd "be pissed too" if he traveled to the Olympiad only to warm the bench and play limited minutes. 

To Tatum's credit, he vowed to use the Olympics experience as "fuel" in the upcoming NBA season but never criticized the Team USA coaching staff for his mismanagement. 

Anthony is a player who can relate to the sacrifices a top scorer needs to make at the Olympic level. The four-time medalist had to adjust his playing style to fit in with Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Kevin Durant, which he did admirably at most of his Olympic appearances.