Steve Kerr Details Talk With Jayson Tatum Regarding Olympic Drama

Steve Kerr rarely still ponders the controversy that linked the Golden State Warriors head coach to Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum this past summer.

Kerr’s decision to bench Tatum twice amid USA Basketball’s six-game run to a gold medal finish in the 2024 Paris Olympics garnered global attention. Tatum was fresh off a championship in Boston, a record-large $315 million payday from the Celtics and a third straight All-NBA First Team selection. Still, that wasn’t enough.

When asked the day after Tatum led a 40-point demolition of Kerr’s Warriors on Martin Luther King Day, the 59-year-old shared a chit-chat between the two.

“We texted after the game in Boston a couple of months ago and we talked last night after the game,” Kerr told 95.7 The Game’s “Willard & Dibs” show. “I will tell you that Jayson was an absolute dream to coach. During all that stuff, that so-called controversy, you might notice there wasn’t a single quote from Jayson. It was everybody else talking about it. Jayson’s an amazing guy and an incredible player and he couldn’t have handled it any better when he was there. The reality is 2024 these guys are all in the spotlight. There’s so much pressure on them and that whole thing was overblown.”

USA Basketball underutilized Tatum, playing the five-time All-Star for 17.7 minutes across four appearances — less than Boston teammates Derrick White and Jrue Holiday, who both logged five appearances. Tatum averaged 5.3 points and 5.3 rebounds and even prompted an unscheduled check-up visit from Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla.

At the time, Kerr didn’t provide any elaborate explanation as to why Tatum was on such a short leash, especially when Team USA barely defeated opponents like South Sudan and Serbia.

Tatum, meanwhile, took the humbling experience on the chin and quickly redirected his focus on the Celtics and their first shot at a repeat in over a decade. The 26-year-old dropped a 37-point double-double on the New York Knicks during Boston’s Opening Night victory, moments after Tatum received his ring and Banner 18 was raised.

Although, beating the brakes off Golden State alongside co-star Jaylen Brown, who was denied an invite from Team USA entirely, was a great avenue for revenge too. The Tatum-Brown tandem clocked out at the end of the third quarter and let Boston’s bench finish the job as Kerr watched his team fall to 21-21 with the 125-85 defeat.

Tatum and Brown might’ve had Kerr’s face at the center of their dartboard, but Kerr has moved on from the storyline and is focused on the Warriors.

“I don’t even think about it more, to be honest with you,” Kerr added.

Feelings of resentment from Tatum and Brown toward Kerr were on display as soon as the final buzzer sounded and Boston became the third team in the NBA to eclipse 30 regular-season victories this season. While Tatum shared a postgame discussion with Warriors star Stephen Curry, as Brown stood nearby, Kerr approached the crew and received an awkward stare of rejection.

Boston and Golden State split the regular-season series, 1-1, however the C’s sit as the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference while the Warriors dropped to 11th in the West, still in search of answers as the season progresses.