Jayson Tatum’s Blunt Statement on Steve Kerr Benching Him in Olympics

Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum was again asked about the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) does an interview after a victory over the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena. / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The Golden State Warriors and the Boston Celtics had their first matchup of the regular season on Wednesday night. This was a highly-anticipated game for many reasons. One reason in particular was the fact that Jayson Tatum was benched in the 2024 Paris Olympics this summer by Warriors head coach Steve Kerr.

Despite being a perennial All-NBA first team forward, Tatum only played fewer minutes than Tyrese Haliburton for Team USA in Paris. Loyal to their superstar and 2024 NBA champion, the Celtics fans were quick to let their opinions of Kerr be heard as they rained down boos from the moment he was introduced.

Via @barstoolsports: "Celtics Fans didn’t hold back the BOOs at Steve Kerr during intros tonight"

Celtics Fans didn’t hold back the BOOs at Steve Kerr during intros tonight
pic.twitter.com/Qlrkiixmin

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) November 7, 2024

While this was a major topic in the media and among fans, it Tatum is the one person not interested in the storyline. After Wednesday night's Warriors-Celtics game, Tatum was asked about his Olympic benching and responded with this candid answer.

“It's part of this job, what I've been dealing with my entire career," Tatum said. "People want me to be louder, people want me to be meaner, whatever. One thing about Jayson is — I’m always going to do what the f*** I want to do. [I'll] approach things how I want to approach in what I feel is sincere to who I am as a person.”

Jayson Tatum was asked about how people wanted him to respond to the Olympics benching:

“People want me to be louder, people want me to be meaner, whatever. One thing about Jayson is — I’m always going to do what the fuck I want to do.” pic.twitter.com/AWc8mLVsMq

— Noa Dalzell 🏀 (@NoaDalzell) November 7, 2024

Regardless of how anyone would want him to react to the benching, Tatum wanted to hammer home how he really felt about it all.

“We react differently. 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,” Tatum said.

The Warriors and the Celtics are two teams that are currently poised to make some noise the rest of the season, and if the current trends continue, they could see one another in June once again.

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