“What’s up, champ?”
That simple three-word greeting has been music to forward Jayson Tatum’s ears since the Boston Celtics won the 2024 NBA championship. And that privileged phrase sounds even better when it is coming from your esteemed USA Basketball teammates.
“The guys who have won championships understand the feeling, what it’s like and what it takes,” Tatum told Andscape. “Every time they see me, they say, ‘What’s up, champ?’ It’s definitely good to hear that from your peers.”
Being an NBA champ who heads to the Olympics also means more basketball mileage and a short offseason, which Tatum says is a “great problem to have” while playing in the Paris Olympics for USA Basketball.
Tatum played 35.7 minutes per game in 74 regular-season games for the Celtics last season and was fourth in the NBA in minutes played (768.4). The 26-year-old also played a team-high 40.4 minutes per game in 19 postseason games en route to the title. The Celtics won the 2024 NBA championship on June 17.
USA Basketball began training for the Olympics on July 7 in Las Vegas. Tatum was given permission to arrive on July 8 for personal reasons, rest and to sign his new mammoth five-year, $313 million contract, USA Basketball managing director Grant Hill told Andscape. After two practices, Tatum had eight points in 17 minutes off the bench during USA’s 86-72 exhibition victory over Canada on July 10 in Las Vegas. Tatum had seven points, five assists and four rebounds as a starter in 21 minutes of a 98-92 exhibition win over Australia on Monday in Abu Dhabi.
With a roster of 12 NBA stars, there probably won’t be a need on most nights for anyone to play heavy minutes for Team USA.
“It definitely feels weird going out there and playing,” Tatum said after the game against Canada. “It’s definitely going to take some time to get my rhythm and get my legs back under me. Mentally, it’s good. It’s good being back around these guys. You think you’re going to come out here and relax. But as soon as you get back in the gym and lace them up, I want to get back in that mode …
“It’s USA Basketball. We got 12 great guys we try to maneuver. We have to figure out how coach is going to play us. You just have to be ready to do amazing things out there. We just have to understand that we have a good team. When you go out there, do your thing. When you are not, cheer on your teammates.”
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Tatum is a USA Basketball veteran who has won gold medals in the delayed 2020 Olympics, 2015 FIBA U19 World Championship, 2014 FIBA U17 World Championship and the 2013 FIBA Americas U16 Championship. When asked if he was worried about Tatum being fatigued, the 51-year-old Hill joked that he was more worried about his fatigue and not someone nearly half his age.
“Jayson has been a part of USA Basketball going back to his high school days,” Hill told Andscape. “A guy who has won gold medals on a junior level, played in the World Cup. Won a gold medal in 2021. He has had a lot going on in the last month for him.
“We knew he’d be ready and he’d be a professional. He’s super-engaged even when he was apart. We connected with him and made sure that the messaging we had as a team he was put into. He’s not only a guy that can help us win this summer, but he can help us win for years to come.”
Tatum isn’t the only Celtics player on USA’s roster at the Olympics. as he will be joined Derrick White and Jrue Holiday. White was a late replacement for injured forward Kawhi Leonard, who withdrew from the team July 10. Not on the roster is Celtics forward Jaylen Brown, the 2024 NBA Finals MVP, who expressed disappointment on social media when he wasn’t added after Leonard’s departure.
Tatum told Andscape last week that he had not talked to Brown, but he was ecstatic to be joined by two Celtics teammates.
“We’re adding more championship DNA to the roster,” Tatum said.
In 1992, USA Basketball stars Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, who played for the Chicago Bulls, were the first NBA players to win an Olympic gold medal and championship in the same year. LeBron James won an NBA title with the Miami Heat in 2012 and a gold medal in the 2012 Olympics. In 2016, Kyrie Irving won an NBA title with the Cleveland Cavaliers and an Olympic gold medal. Holiday and Khris Middleton also won a title with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021 and a gold medal in the delayed 2020 Olympics the same year.
With a gold medal in Paris, Tatum and White will make that list of NBA champions and Olympic gold medalists. Holiday and James would become the only players to do it twice.
“It would be a hell of a year. A hell of a summer. I got no complaints,” Tatum said.