Tatum: Nobody happier than Joe Mazzula about tough Olympics experience

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The world’s greatest athletes draw motivation from just about anything, big or small. We know that. So it shouldn’t have been a surprise Tuesday to hear Jayson Tatum say he’ll use his experience in this summer’s Olympics as motivation for the upcoming season.
Being benched in two of five games as a recent NBA champion and All-NBA First Team player isn’t a perceived slight. It’s a slight. Intentional or not.
“Motivation? I guess you could say that if you want to simplify,” Tatum told reporters at Celtics media day. “In real time it was tough.”
What he said next, though, was a little surprising to hear.
“I talk to Joe [Mazzulla] a lot. Joe was probably the happiest person in the world that I didn’t win Finals MVP and that I didn’t play in two of the games in the Olympics,” Tatum said. “So, that was odd. But if you know Joe, it makes sense.”
I don’t know Joe. Aside from what he chooses to share with reporters. Like how he watches The Town entirely too much and how he’s probably put more thought into robbing a bank than the average person has. But even the little tidbits we get from the Boston Celtics head coach are enough to understand why he would take joy in his players facing difficult challenges.
This is the same man who was “excited” about a borderline dirty play against Tatum in April, because he wanted to see how his team responded. Mazzulla obviously believes these little obstacles make players better. He would be more disappointed if Tatum didn’t draw motivation from not winning Finals MVP and not being a part of the Olympic rotation.
How far that motivation actually goes remains to be seen. Tatum has been working on fixing his jump shot, which could make the 26-year-old a more lethal player than he already is. So, he’s clearly not resting on his laurels. But he also doesn’t have much to complain about. As Tatum said himself, he won a championship, signed the biggest contract in NBA history and landed the cover of NBA 2K25. Life is good.
Veteran sports writer Frank Isola made that very point Wednesday on SiriusXM’s NBA channel.
“Did I need any extra motivation coming into the season. No. I’m not going to give anybody in particular credit that they’re motivating me to come into the season,” Tatum said.
Motivated or not, the Celtics are the best team in the NBA. They’re +300 favorites at BetMGM to repeat as champions. If they simply play up to the level they’re capable and stay healthy, they’ll be right there in the mix for a title at the end. Tatum can’t manufacture the type of motivation players who haven’t won can.
That’s likely why Mazzulla was happy. Because he knows players that more recently come up short, like Joel Embiid, Paul George, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard, Jalen Brunson, Tyrese Haliburton and Donovan Mitchell, are extra motivated. And now they’re hunting the Celtics. Boston can’t afford to let up now.
JJ Redick was on a recent episode of The Lowe Post podcast with Zach Lowe, and he revealed what his starting lineup is going to be for the Los Angeles Lakers when the season starts.
It’ll be LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves, D’Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura.
Surprisingly, it’s a lineup former Lakers coach Darvin Ham didn’t play at all during the first half of the 2023-24 season. But as FTW’s Bryan Kalbrosky wrote, it was a very effective lineup once he did come around to it:
–LeBron James has already viciously scored on Bronny during a Lakers scrimmage
— Kamala Harris going on the ‘All the Smoke’ podcast has NBA fans cracking all the jokes
— Jaylen Brown arrogantly singled out the Pistons with a flex about his leadership style
—  DiJonai Carrington wins 2024 WNBA Most Improved Player