Celtics Great Kevin Garnett Weighs In On Jayson Tatum’s Olympics Flop

Team USA head coach Steve Kerr irked many in the basketball world with his treatment of Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum during the Olympics.

Tatum received very limited playing time on the star-studded team, and was even benched twice over a six-game span.

But that didn't bother Kevin Garnett. Instead, the Celtics great believes how things played out at the Olympics will only benefit Tatum, and not from a motivational sense, which has become a growing narrative.

"It was great that he didn't have to play a lot of minutes," Garnett said on "KG Certified," as transcribed by Boston.com's Conor Roche. "He's coming off the Finals. I know (Derrick White) and (Jrue) Holiday were there, but to play big minutes (for) the USA, I'm glad they didn't need Jayson Tatum. I'm glad he got to actually rest and chill."

Tatum has played in seven NBA seasons and still is only 26 years old, but he's already logged plenty of miles on his body over the course of his career. He played in at least 70-plus games each of the last three regular seasons and then made two trips to the NBA Finals over that span. The year he didn't make it to the Finals, the Celtics played in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Unlike other NBA stars, Tatum usually doesn't opt for load management. He has at times even played through a nagging wrist injury.

But perhaps in the Olympics, load management was the best thing for Tatum and Boston's chances at repeating next season with the 2024-25 campaign slated to officially begin in just over two months.

So, maybe Celtics fans should thank Kerr. It seems like Garnett is on that wavelength and he also praised Tatum for how he handled a trying situation.

"I can only imagine how difficult that was for him," Garnett said. "But shout out to JT, man. I don't think you heard him bickering. I didn't hear any echoes about him being unhappy or anything like that. I just think he was trying to get through it and micromanage it."