Playing without the likes of Draymond Green, Jonathan Kuminga, and a host of other key role players, the Warriors put together a less-than-impressive performance during their most recent loss to the Boston Celtics. In full, the loss was not only unimpressive but historic. With a final score of 125-85, the Warriors’ 40-point drubbing was not just their worst home loss under Steve Kerr, but their worst home loss in 40 years.
Ultimately, the brutal home loss was just another prime example of the Warriors showing their inability to keep pace with teams like the Celtics. While most of the postgame discourse was focused on how the Warriors can immediately improve Stephen Curry’s supporting cast, another postgame moment garnered a fair amount of attention. Immediately after the game concluded, Celtics’ star Jayson Tatum and Warriors’ coach Steve Kerr shared a brief but awkward interaction while Tatum was talking to Curry. Of course, the moment only made waves because of the two’s shared history. Nevertheless, there’s still a bit of resentment between the two due to recent Olympic-related circumstances.
Awkward Jayson Tatum Steve Kerr Interaction Reignites ‘Beef’ Narrative
A Brief History of the Jayson Tatum-Steve Kerr Drama
It may be slightly overdramatic to say that Tatum and Kerr have a ‘beef’, but they certainly have an adversarial history. Back in 2022, the Celtics and the Warriors met in the NBA Finals, with the Warriors ultimately prevailing as champions in six games. Meeting in opposition at basketball’s biggest stage certainly does not guarantee a mutual disdain between opponents, but it can be grounds for a budding rivalry—at the very least. Let’s just say when a certain team—or coach—costs you a Championship, you don’t tend to hold the warmest feelings towards them. While Tatum may now look back on his 2022 Finals defeat as a necessary learning experience, it’s surely not one of his most pleasant memories.
In the summer of 2024, another chapter unfolded in the Kerr-Tatum saga. Fresh off of securing his first Championship, Tatum had the opportunity to go for Gold in Paris. Of course, with Steve Kerr at the helm of Team USA, things took an uncomfortable turn when Tatum found himself glued to the bench for much of the tournament.
The image of one of the NBA’s brightest stars saddled at the end of the bench with his warmups on, was a jarring one for the basketball community. But when a team is as loaded on the wings as Team USA is, with guys like Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Anthony Edwards, and Devin Booker, someone has to get the short end of the stick in terms of minutes. Additionally, all the aforementioned players had significantly shorter postseason runs than Tatum, and one has to think that Kerr considered that when divvying up playing time.
The Last Word
Firstly, let’s call it what it is. While Tatum’s latest cold shoulder toward Kerr is nothing overly aggressive or disrespectful, he’s clearly being at least a little petty. Moreover, after the game, Kerr confirmed the two talked despite the awkward clip. Granted, Steve Kerr shares a great deal of responsibility for costing Tatum an NBA Championship back in 2022, so Tatum does not owe coach Kerr any sort of joviality. There is no part in either one of their contracts, that says they have to by any means be buddy-buddy. With that being said, Kerr is also responsible for providing Tatum with the opportunity to be on the short list of players who’ve followed up winning an NBA Championship with an Olympic gold medal.
Lest we forget, Team USA won the Gold medal in Paris despite Tatum playing a rather small role. It’s not like Team USA faltered and fumbled their chance for a Gold medal while Tatum sat idly by on the bench. Additionally, everyone agrees that Tatum is a world-class, top-tier NBA star, but he certainly didn’t bring his A-game to Paris. Even Tatum would have to admit that his production, (5.3 points per game with a shooting splits of 38.1/0.0/83.3), was not up to his standards. While Tatum may appear to still be holding a grudge towards Kerr, ultimately it’s only a matter of time until Tatum once again gets his moment to shine for Team USA. The next time the Olympic games roll around expect Tatum to be both a prominent and featured option for Team USA.
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