The Warriors and Celtics will face each other for the first time since Steve Kerr kept Jayson Tatum warming the bench for the entire campaign of the Paris Olympics.
There is no doubt that it will be a tall order for the Warriors to beat the Celtics at TD Garden and Kerr will receive a warm welcome full of fun.
Speaking before the game, Kerr said he “didn’t enjoy” using Tatum the way he did, but it’s not something that stays with him.
“We can’t control the story,” Kerr said. “This is a job. I tell our players all the time, the NBA is incredibly popular, and the reason it’s so lucrative and part of the deal is that you’re going to be in the story. So that can be difficult. But from the beginning (of the Olympic training camp) in Vegas, everything was that we are in this together. We have 12 Hall of Famers, and we just committed to winning, and we won a gold medal.
“So, I don’t think about that at all except that I didn’t enjoy playing Jayson against Serbia, and not playing Joel (Embiid) against South Sudan. Those are not happy decisions. But all our boys were amazing. They are committed to each other. They are committed to winning the gold medal. They brought gold home to their country. They all behaved with dignity and class. That’s the real story. But we live in a time when we have to talk about things that really don’t matter.”
Stephen A. Smith lashed out at Kerr for the way he handled the Celtics star on First Take.
“Doing what he did to Jayson Tatum, I hope Jayson Tatum is ashamed of him, I hope they destroy, I’m not focusing on the Warriors, I’m just talking about Jayson Tatum who continues there and makes a plan,” said. Smith. “Because remember the last point, Steph Curry was bad until the end of the semi-finals of the Olympics, he couldn’t buy a shot, but you stuck with him. Why? Because that’s Steph Curry, we know what he’s going to do at the end, we know how amazing and great he is and he knows it because he coaches all the time. So eventually he will find his hole, stick to it. Jayson Tatum can play 4 positions man, you couldn’t get him minutes in the game?”
Will Tatum get his revenge tonight?
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