Photo by Damien MEYER / AFP
In a somewhat bizarre coincidence, both Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum and Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton appeared on two separate podcasts — Ryan Clark’s The Pivot and LeBron James’ Mind the Game — and both discussed their feelings about being benched during the 2024 Summer Olympics in France. Team USA ultimately won the Gold Medal that year, beating Serbia in the semi-finals and France in the finals.
Tyrese Haliburton and Jayson Tatum, who are also both rehabbing Achilles injuries, were members of the 2024 United States Men’s Basketball Team that won the Gold Medal, although they both didn’t get much playing time. Their reactions to that reality, however, couldn’t be more polarizing, as they essentially define the “Chad vs. Virgin” meme.
NBA stars Tyrese Haliburton and Jayson Tatum had hilariously different reactions to being benched by Steve Kerr during the 2024 Summer Olympics in France
While Haliburton — who recalled his in-the-moment reaction to realizing he wasn’t going to see the court at the Olympics on LeBron’s Mind the Game podcast — was able to take on an “I’m just happy to be here” approach. Tatum, however, took the lack of playing time a lot more personally.
“[Head coach Steve Kerr] starts talking about everybody can’t play, and ‘Bron is talking about how, you know, in the ’04 Olympics I didn’t really play that much, and you gotta put your pride aside and, you know, it’s bigger than you and [Kevin Durant’s] over there, like, at the end of the day, we’re 12 All-Stars, everybody’s good. We’re always trying to win, right? And I’m sitting there and I’m listening, I’m like, ‘Yeah,'” Hali explained.
“And as we start film, I’m like, ‘But who are they talking about?’ And I’m looking around and I’m like, ‘Oh, he ain’t talking about him. He ain’t talking about him.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, they talking about me.’ I’m sitting there, I’m like, ‘Oh, no. This is what it is?”‘ I was sitting there and I’m watching film, and I can’t even pay attention to film. I’m like, ‘Damn, it’s over. It’s over, man. Oh man, I’ll get no PT out here. It’s over.'”
“They talking about me.” 😭@Hali up about his Team USA experience on a brand new episode. Catch Pt. 1 now on our YouTube, @PrimeVideo, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Watch the full convo: https://t.co/l9sgIKiO8w pic.twitter.com/AWp28pvRRt
— Mind the Game (@mindthegamepod) January 27, 2026
“I couldn’t understand, being first team All-NBA, it’s me and 4 other guys in the world. At that time the 4 other guys were European, I was the only American. And then you get to the Olympics and I didn’t play in two of the games,” Tatum told former NFL safety and current ESPN analyst Ryan Clark.
Jayson Tatum on getting DNP’s in the Olympics:
“I couldn’t understand, being first team All-NBA, it’s me and 4 other guys in the world. At that time the 4 other guys were European, I was the only American. And then you get to the Olympics and I didn’t play in two of the games.” pic.twitter.com/IaIt7Ct6ja
— jb (@lockedupjb) January 27, 2026
the difference between how hali and tatum took it is so funny to me https://t.co/Lp5iGTfivp
— ⊹ (@htvzn) January 27, 2026
Tatum’s comments on The Pivot were certainly eye-opening, as they seemingly revealed a superstar that’s intensely insecure about his status in the game, as further evidenced by his claim that if he played for the Grizzlies, he’s already have a statue in Memphis.
“As you’re striving to be a great player, the career I have right now, if I had it with the Grizzlies, I would have a statue outside the arena,” Tatum said. “But now I’m chasing people like Larry Bird where the standard is so much higher. You don’t want to be the great player of the Celtics who didn’t win. Bill Russell, John Havlicek, Kevin McHale, they all won.”
“The career I have right now if I had it with the Grizzlies, I would have a statue outside the arena right now”
— Jayson Tatum on the pressure of living up the the legends who played for Boston 😭
(Via @thepivot) pic.twitter.com/AsvqfVcpbo
— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) January 27, 2026
At this time, while both Haliburton and Tatum are expected to return from their torn Achilles sometime this season, official return dates for either of the NBA superstars have not yet been confirmed.