Jaylen Brown Texted Jayson Tatum 'I'm Mad for You' After Kerr Benched Celtics Champ

Jaylen Brown reached out to Boston Celtics teammate Jayson Tatum during the 2024 Summer Olympics, when Tatum's lack of playing time with Team USA was a running subplot.

"Jayson, I think, he handled it extremely well," Brown said on The Stephen A. Smith Show. "That just says a lot about JT's character. But I know he was pissed, for sure. I remember texting him and being like, 'I'm mad for you.'"

Despite making an All-NBA first team for the third straight year and helping the Celtics win a title, Tatum logged the second-fewest minutes on Team USA and didn't appear in two of their six games.

Tatum's frustration was understandable.

The 26-year-old is perhaps at the zenith of his NBA career. He averaged 26.9 points and 8.1 rebounds during the 2023-24 season and helped the Celtics finally get over the hump in their pursuit of an 18th championship.

Having the bounty of talent available to Team USA head coach Steve Kerr meant at least one notable figure was going to be shuttled to the end of the bench, though.

ESPN's Brian Windhorst reported in August on his Hoop Collective podcast that Kerr and the coaching staff decided the U.S. should rely on a 10-man rotation for the most part. Unfortunately, Tatum "was the 11th man."

The United States' gold medal victory to some extent validates Kerr's approach. Tatum didn't necessarily go above and beyond when he did play, either. He averaged 5.3 points in 17.7 minutes per game and shot 0-of-4 from the perimeter across the tournament.

"I know I didn't make a jump shot when I was with Team USA. I don't know, law of averages," he said to The Athletic's Jared Weiss. "It's a weird rhythm thing being with Team USA; you never exactly know when you're gonna get the ball. But that's part of it. You sign up for that because I've done it before (at the Tokyo Games)."

Some players need time to on the court to find their groove, and that's not a luxury you necessarily enjoy in international basketball. You're substituting in and out too frequently to build that positive momentum.

Others, like Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker, are primed to deliver straight away. Booker, whom Kerr called Team USA's unsung MVP, hit 56.5 percent of his three-pointers and thrived off the ball.

As much as Tatum might feel slighted, the results from the U.S. in Paris speak for themselves.