NFL legend Tom Brady has leapt to the defense of the Jayson Tatum, after his performances at the Paris Olympic Games.
Tatum logged two DNP games (both against Serbia) and it was head coach Steve Kerr’s decision to leave him out.
The Boston star recently admitted he struggled to find his rhythm in the games he did participate in.
“I know I didn’t make a jump shot when I was with Team USA,” the Celtics star told The Athletic. “I don’t know, law of averages. It’s a weird rhythm thing being with Team USA; you never exactly know when you’re gonna get the ball. But that’s part of it. You sign up for that because I’ve done it before (at the Tokyo Games).”
Sportscenter posted the quote on their socials and NFL GOAT Brady was among the thousands of commenters.
He made sure to give Tatum his flowers and the haters something to think about.
“A true professional!, Brady wrote. “A true champion! And a great teammate! We should celebrate people who care more about the team success than the individual success! There are so many people involved in every organization who don’t always play a “ starting” role but play a huge role in the success of the team. I have more respect for Jayson Tatum now more than ever! 💯 now this is what we should be teaching our kids!”
Even though he was a major part of Boston’s championship success, Tatum still only logged 11 minutes in the final gold medal match against France.
Kerr opted not to play Tatum against Serbia in the group play and then again in the semi-finals and Tatum wasn’t immune to the reactions from NBA fans and the general basketball media at the time.
“In the age of social media, you see everything,” Tatum said. “You see all the tweets and the people on the podcasts and people on TV giving their opinion on whether they thought it was a good decision or it was an outrageous decision or whatever. Obviously, I wanted to contribute more, and I’ve never been in (this) situation.”