Why Tom Brady Gained ‘Respect’ For Jayson Tatum After Olympics

Jayson Tatum's experience at the 2024 Paris Olympics as one of three Boston Celtics representatives to join LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and a stacked USA Basketball gold medal-winning roster wasn't glamorous, but that's not the way NFL great Tom Brady looks at the run.

USA Basketball head coach Steve Kerr benched Tatum for the entirety of two Olympic matchups, including a nail-biting semifinal battle against Nikola Jokić and Serbia while providing a lame "math problem" excuse. That redirected the discourse, which should've been centered around Tatum's championship leap as a selfless leader, to cause for making the fragile case of Tatum being undeserving of playing for Team USA. However, watching from afar, Brady gained an immense amount of respect for Tatum.

"A true professional! A true champion! And a great teammate!" Brady commented Thursday on SportsCenter's Instagram. "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!"

Tatum's praises stood limited throughout the Olympics and the NBA playoffs. Instead of crediting the now-NBA's highest-paid superstar ever, Tatum's box score was being stalked routinely as the struggling shooting splits overtook the ability to get teammates involved and more importantly, keep the Celtics in the win column -- Boston went 16-3 in the postseason. No, Tatum wasn't awarded Finals MVP, but that wasn't the primary goal instilled in head coach Joe Mazulla's locker room culture. As Brady did under ex-New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick for two decades, Tatum bought into the vision designed for Boston's ultimate goal: a championship.

It's no surprise why Brady, a seven-time Super Bowl champion, can vouch for and empathize with someone of Tatum's position: a young star tasked with performing up to some of the highest standards imaginable while also responsible for leading a talented Celtics team to great heights. That's the door Tatum walked through to begin last season and the same one awaiting the 26-year-old on Oct. 22.