It’s been a very good last few months for the members of the Boston Celtics. Not only did they win the NBA title back in June but three players also helped Team USA win the gold medal at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
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Forward Jayson Tatum and guards Derrick White and Jrue Holiday all made some history with the United States winning. They became the first trio of teammates to ever complete the historic run.
“Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday and Derrick White completed an unprecedented run in basketball history Saturday night, becoming the first trio of NBA teammates to ever win both an NBA championship and an Olympic gold medal in the same calendar year. Not only did they accomplish those feats in the same calendar year, but they did so within a span of just seven-plus weeks.”
Each player was vital in the Americans winning the gold medal, with Holiday and White providing shooting and defense. Tatum gave Team USA a scoring punch but was subject to a lot of controversy throughout the Olympics.
Team USA head coach Steve Kerr was under fire for much of the tournament for his benching of Tatum in two different games. This includes in the semi-final matchup for the Americans against Serbia in which the United States had to overcome a 13-point deficit entering the final quarter.
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Despite being one of the better players in the NBA and coming off winning a title, Tatum was subjected to a bench role on Team USA. Many took aim at Kerr for his decisions.
The head coach acknowledged that finding the correct rotations with all the star power was difficult, But benching Tatum was certainly a strange decision.
“The hardest part of this job is you’re sitting at least a couple of guys who are world-class, some of the very best players on Earth,” Kerr added. “On one hand, it makes no sense at all. On the other, I’m asking these guys to just commit to winning one game and then move on to the next one. I have to do the same thing. And so I felt like last night those were the combinations that made the most sense.”
Either way, all three members of the Celtics now are NBA champions and have won a gold medal. It’s a special few months that only a handful of players have ever experienced and can be used as fuel for Boston to repeat next season to keep up the strong winning ways.
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