PARIS — Jayson Tatum stood at the arena's loading dock Saturday night, Olympic gold medal around his neck and in front of countless bottles of champagne, answering questions on social media about his disappointment and his mother's defence.
This summer was meant to be Tatum's summer, and in many ways it was: He won his first NBA championship with the Boston Celtics, signed a $314 million contract extension, welcomed his second child and, of course, won his second Olympic gold medal, this time as part of arguably the greatest team of all time.
But Tatum's role as a bit part of the U.S. rotation wasn't something he was accustomed to or prepared for, and the two games he missed on the way to the gold medal made headlines and sparked heated debate back home.
“I keep saying, I try not to make the story of the last few days about me, we won,” Tatum said after the U.S.' 98-87 win over France. did In 11 minutes of action, he recorded two points and three rebounds. “Winning the gold medal was the most important thing,” he said.
They won, so there's no point in arguing. History will look kindly on U.S. coach Steve Kerr for coaching this team the way he did, for starting Devin Booker over Tatum, and for benching Derrick White as a key offensive defender until the U.S. played France, where Tatum's length was more valuable to the team than White's contributions as a defensive-minded guard.
If the U.S. team had lost at any point this summer with Tatum on the bench, especially in the medal round, Kerr and Team USA brass would have come under fire for not giving a bigger role to the three-time All-NBA First Team selection.
But they haven't lost, so the arguments and opinions no longer matter. What matters now to USA Men's Basketball is how Tatum feels, because the team still needs him, and always will.
“My personal experience on the court has been tough, but I'm not going to make a decision based on emotion,” Tatum said. “If you ask me now if I'm going to play in 2028, that's four years away and I have to take my time to think about it, so I'm not going to make a decision based on how this experience went or how I personally felt.”
After spending so much time on the bench in Paris, Jayson Tatum isn't sure about Los Angeles in 2028. “I'm not going to make a decision based on emotion,” he said. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
The U.S. has now won five consecutive gold medals in men's basketball. Each one would be worthy, but this one carries more weight because of the team the U.S. sent to Paris. The names and backgrounds of LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Joel Embiid and eight other stars, including Tatum, have regularly drawn comparisons to the 1992 Dream Team. this If the team doesn't win, what does that say about the state of U.S. basketball going forward?
Thanks to the heroics of the three American veterans, no one had to answer that question, but the experience of this summer will have a major influence on the team the U.S. sends out when the Olympics come to Los Angeles four summers from now.
Regardless of whether U.S. brass opted to focus all of their efforts on All-Stars rather than sprinkling in role players, or how players who could potentially return to the team in 2028 feel about the journey they just completed, the next chapter of USA Basketball on the international stage will be written largely based on the one that concluded so spectacularly late Saturday night in the City of Lights.
“You can't please everyone,” Grant Hill, the U.S. managing director who won a gold medal as a player in 1996, said in a recent interview. Athletic“But I think winning a gold medal will make everyone feel like they've contributed. I think people will come away from this with a positive outlook on this whole experience.”
“And, you know, after four years we have to reform and sort things out.”
As Hill noted in the interview, first published Friday, the team was made up of 11 All-Stars (12 if you count Kawhi Leonard before he was replaced by Derrick White) partly to allow for versatility among the best teams in the world, but also in case James, Curry and Durant aren't able to play at their highest level.
James will be 43 in 2028. He said Saturday that he probably won't play for the U.S. team in Los Angeles. Curry, who turns 40, is open to changing his mind (“I'd never say never,” he said) but suggested that Paris will be his first and last Olympics. Durant, 39 and having battled injuries in recent years, could just as easily decide to become the male equivalent of Diana Taurasi or Sue Bird and try for a fifth Olympic gold medal.
Even if Durant is healthy enough to return to the Olympic tour, he won't be the dominant player he was in the first four tournaments. Jrue Holiday will be 38 in 2028 and will likely retire after winning two gold medals. Anthony Davis will be 35 in 2028, and White, 34, could return, but it will depend on Davis' interest and what kind of team the U.S. wants to field.
The U.S. wants to give Embiid another chance to play in the Olympics, after Hill managed to lure him away from France through open, no-pressure discussions, while France demanded Embiid fulfill his passport request by playing for France.
But when asked how he felt about his first Olympics and if he’d be interested in trying again when he turns 34 in 2028, Embiid replied: “It’s been tough.
“Being away from my family and home for a few weeks is a factor,” Embiid said, “but I think being with Team USA and having a group of teammates and people around me, it's easier to just enjoy it. And Paris is a great city, and then Los Angeles is next. Who knows what will happen. It might not be Team USA, it might be Cameroon, who knows.”
Joel Embiid has spent much of the past two weeks being lambasted by French fans for choosing to play for the U.S. “It's been a really hard time for me,” he said Saturday. (Harry Langer/DeFody Images via Getty Images)
The Cameroon-born Embiid played for the United States national team this summer and would not have been able to play for his country had he not been released by both FIBA and USA Basketball.
Bam Adebayo is a two-time Olympic gold medalist. He'll be 31 in 2028, but Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra could very well be the next coach of the U.S. team. (Kerr has said he will step down after the Paris games.) Spoelstra was Kerr's assistant on this year's team.
“A lot of people don't get the opportunity to, firstly, compete and represent their country and then win a gold medal,” Adebayo said. “With those two things in mind, it's an opportunity I can't pass up.”
Booker, like Adebayo and Tatum, is a veteran who has played in the past two Olympics and will be 31 years old at the time of the Los Angeles Olympics. Booker chose to play in a “low-key” role on the U.S. team, defending, rebounding, and doing the dirty work until the open shot came his way (though, yes, he is a prolific scorer for the Suns). Booker did well with what was asked of him, starting every game at the Paris Olympics.
“Devin Booker is a great basketball player,” Kerr said. “He was our unsung MVP. I just wanted to say that.”
If anyone is feeling positive about returning to the next Olympics, it's Booker.
For most countries, the player composition is a more single, all-round approach to fielding a national team that will compete in all high-profile competitions, including the Olympics. and The FIBA World Cup now takes place one year before the Olympics.
The problem for Hill and the United States Basketball Association is that most American NBA superstars have decided they don't want to play back-to-back summers, so for now Hill will have to assemble a roster of young stars for the 2027 World Cup in Qatar and then decide which of them to promote to the Olympic team alongside more established stars.
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Anthony Edwards was the youngest player on the U.S. team this summer at age 22. He had some big Olympic scoring games, including a 26-point win over Puerto Rico coming off Kerr's bench. Edwards said he wants to gain more Olympic experience for the U.S. but doesn't want to play in another World Cup.
Asked if he would consider playing in a second World Cup, Edwards replied: “Absolutely not.”
Tyrese Haliburton is just 24, and he and Edwards were the only players on the Philippines' 2023 World Cup team that finished fourth in the league who were asked to play in the Olympics. But unlike Edwards, Haliburton saw the least playing time of anyone this summer, with “DNP – Coach's Decision” written next to his name after four games.
When you get an A on a group project without doing anything 🏅 pic.twitter.com/xpshYZhMyA
— Tyrese Haliburton (@TyHaliburton22) August 10, 2024
Haliburton went into the Olympics knowing his role would be reduced from when he set the U.S. record for assists at the World Cup in 2023, but once White joined the team, Haliburton's playing time dropped off sharply.
Paolo Banchero, another member of the United States' last World Cup team, is under serious consideration for the Paris Olympics and is one player Hill would like to use in future Olympics.
Jaylen Brown, the Boston Celtics superstar whose only national team experience was at the 2019 World Cup in China, was snubbed after not being selected for the 2024 Olympic team, either as an original member or to replace Leonard. He openly criticized his exclusion on social media. Hill, speaking with Rachel Nichols on All the Smoke's “Open Run” last week, said Brown “would be a contender in '28 if he wanted to play.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Hill said. “One thing I've learned is in this position you can't take anything personal, so I try not to take anything personal. My goal, my objective is to win, and once that happens, we turn around and start looking to the future.”
And, of course, there are plenty of current NBA stars, borderline stars or future stars who would be perfect fits for the U.S. team in 2028. Some may not even be in the NBA yet, like Cooper Flagg, who is playing his first and likely only season at Duke before turning pro.
What is certain is that the pressure to win at home will be huge and there will be a huge challenge from some of the best teams in the world, including France.
France has narrowly lost to the U.S. in the past two gold medal games. San Antonio Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama is just 20 years old, but he dominated Saturday against the U.S., scoring 26 points and making a strong defensive impact. Four French players were selected in the first round of last June's NBA draft.
Zachary Lisacher was the No. 1 pick by the Atlanta Hawks, and the Washington Wizards selected 7-foot Alex Sarr with the No. 2 pick. The Charlotte Hornets selected forward Tijan Saloun with the No. 6 pick, and Pacôme Dadier was selected by the New York Knicks with the No. 25 pick. None of those four are on France's national team this summer, but they could well follow in the footsteps of Ouenbanyama and the Washington Wizards' Bilal Koulibaly as young up-and-comers (stars?) of the NBA at the next World Cup or Olympics.
Les Bleus are just one example, but perhaps the best, of how difficult it is for the Americans to consistently win a gold medal every four years, no matter who is in the team.
“I'm still learning, but I'm worried about who I'll be competing against in a few years,” Wenbanyama said Saturday, not far from where Tatum stood, his silver medal dangling around his neck.
When asked if that meant he was “worried” about opponents in the NBA or on the international stage, Wenby responded, “Everywhere.”
It's been four years, including Los Angeles.
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(Top photo of Bam Adebayo, Jayson Tatum, Joel Embiid and LeBron James celebrating Saturday's win: Harry Langer/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
