Boston Celtics fans were infuriated at how Team USA treated Jayson Tatum in the Olympics, as head coach Steve Kerr didn’t play him as much as expected.
Jayson Tatum was essentially the 11th man on the roster and had multiple DNPs in the quadrennial meet. But even though that was the case, a key member of the 2008 Boston Celtics championship team, Kevin Garnett, only sees this as a positive because the 26-year-old swingman didn’t exert much energy to win his first Olympic gold.
“When you win, you get a shortened season, while everybody else gets four, five months off. You probably get what, two, two and a half? And then it’s right back in the lab. He had to turn around and win the NBA championship. Turn around, what two, two and a half weeks, three weeks, start preparing for the USA, and then had to show up to training camp for that,” Garnett said on the All The Smoke podcast.
“I can only imagine how difficult that was for him. I’m glad they didn’t need Jayson Tatum. I’m glad he got to actually rest and chill,” he added.
Is there a “conspiracy” against the Boston Celtics?
Speaking on the Underground Lounge podcast, Lou Williams implied that there may be an “active movement” against the Boston Celtics stars.
“Is there a conspiracy theory going on against Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown?” Williams said. “I really want to know because I’m trying to wrap my head around this whole concept of Jaylen Brown not being on that team, I’m trying to wrap my mind around the league trying to pit them against each other when they’ve never done that to two superstars. I’ve never seen that.”
To their credit, the Boston Celtics have stood firm in keeping them together, which resulted in winning Banner No. 18. As Jeff Teague pointed out recently, this should motivate Boston heading into next season, as they are gunning for a repeat.
