The Warriors and Celtics will face off for the first time since Steve Kerr kept Jayson Tatum warming the bench for the whole Paris Olympics campaign.
No doubt it will be a tall task for the Warriors to defeat the Celtics at TD Garden and Kerr will get a very healthy reception full of boos.
Speaking ahead of the matchup, Kerr said he “didn’t enjoy” using Tatum in the way he did, but it isn’t something that’s stayed with him.
“We can’t control the story,” Kerr said. “That’s this job. I tell our players all the time, the NBA is incredibly popular, and the reason it’s so lucrative and a part of the deal is you’re gonna be in the story. So that can be tough. But from the beginning (of Olympic training camp) in Vegas, the whole thing was we’re in this together. We’ve got 12 Hall of Famers, and we’re just committed to winning, and we won a gold medal.
“So, I don’t give it a whole lot of thought other than that I didn’t enjoy not playing Jayson against Serbia, not playing Joel (Embiid) against South Sudan. Those are not fun decisions. But our guys were all amazing. They committed to each other. They committed to winning a gold medal. They brought the gold home for their country. They all handled themselves with incredible dignity and class. That’s the real story. But we live in a time where we have to talk about stuff that doesn’t actually matter.”
Stephen A. Smith blasted out at Kerr over his treatment of the Celtics star on First Take.
“To do what he did to Jayson Tatum, I hope Jayson Tatum embarrassed him, I hope they destroy, I’m not rooting against the Warriors, I’m just talking about Jayson Tatum going on there and putting on a show,” said Smith. “Because remember last point, Steph Curry was awful until the semifinals of the Olympics, he couldn’t buy a shot, but you stuck with him. Why? Because dammit that’s Steph Curry, we know what he’s going to do eventually, we know how phenomenal and great he is and you know it because you coach it all the time. So eventually he’s going to find his groove, you stuck it out. Jayson Tatum can play 4 positions man, you couldn’t find minutes for him in a game?”
Will Tatum get his revenge tonight?
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