Jayson Tatum has opened up about his troublesome expertise on the Olympics, having obtained two DNPs throughout the match and simply 11 minutes of court docket time within the gold medal match towards France.
Tatum says his minimal taking part in time won’t have an effect on his determination on whether or not he’ll play within the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
“It was a troublesome private expertise on the court docket, however I’m not going to make any determination off feelings,” Tatum mentioned. “For those who requested me proper now if I used to be going to play in 2028 — it’s 4 years from now and I [would have] to take time and take into consideration that. So I’m not going to make any determination primarily based off how this expertise was or how I felt individually.”
Tatum added that numerous folks had reached out about his restricted function.
“Lots of people textual content me and reached out and mentioned ‘Make certain this fuels you,’ which I respect. There’s lots of people that care about me,” Tatum mentioned. “I believe the robust half is sure, you should utilize issues to gasoline you, however I’m nonetheless human.
“…A part of being within the second, I’ve sacrificed and put lots into this recreation and work actually, actually laborious. So within the second it’s robust. You’re not essentially fearful about fueling me for November or [whenever] the season is, however like I mentioned, it’s one thing I’m going to remove from this and be taught from this expertise. It’s positively difficult and humbling on the identical time.”
Staff USA coach Steve Kerr has beforehand emphasised that his determination to restrict Tatum’s taking part in time was pushed by matchups, not efficiency.
Tatum completed the Olympics with averages of 5.3 factors, 5.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists per recreation. He shot 38.1 % from the sphere and missed all 4 of his three-point makes an attempt.
READ MORE: Why Jayson Tatum Didn’t Play in Staff USA’s Win Over Serbia
