2024 will always be remembered as the year Jayson Tatum draped himself in gold. After the NBA championship win to fulfill his lifelong dream, Tatum headed to the Olympics and came back with a gold medal. But in between it was far from pleasant, rather downright rough on the All-Star.

The antagonist of Tatum’s story was none other than Steve Kerr, who was accused of being disrespectful towards JT. Stephen A. Smith again thrust the Olympic debacle surrounding Tatum into the spotlight during the latest episode of his podcast. This time he even made Ronnie Singh, AKA Ronnie 2K, break his silence over the treatment received by the NBA 2K25 cover athlete.

According to the marketing director for the game, the situation just looked bad. “The guy just won a championship. You know, he’s ready to play for his country. He could’ve just taken the summer off, just wrote the cover, the 2K cover, and had a great summer with this. I mean, to go all the way to Paris and have 2 games where he’s sitting on the bench, and it just looks bad. I mean, I felt for him,” Ronnie said. Apart from featuring on NBA 2K25’s cover, Tatum also featured on Sports Illustrated’s 70th anniversary cover. Adding to this, Stephen A. Smith claimed that Steve Kerr shouldn’t have even been allowed to celebrate the gold medal win.

“I think what he did to Jayson Tatum was egregious to sit up there and say that I could tell him before the game. I don’t know if I can find time for you. If I was Jayson Tatum, I never wanna see the man again,” SAS advised Tatum. The First Take host even said that he wants Tatum to drop 60 points on Steve Kerr’s Golden State Warriors. Before anyone chuckles, be reminded that JT has scored 60 in the past in a game against the Spurs in 2021. Now that he’s one of the leading players in the league, there’s no reason for him not to repeat the same feat.

Many felt Steve Kerr’s treatment of Jayson Tatum had something to do with his Celtics connection. While the player never went public about his reaction to Kerr’s decision, a former Cs star made himself clear over the debate.

Former Celtic blasts Steve Kerr over Jayson Tatum benching

After Steve Kerr stepped down as the HC, chances for Tatum to be a more regular feature on the Team USA roster aren’t off the table yet. Even he wants to keep his options open for the next edition by saying, “It was a tough personal experience on the court, but I’m not going to make any decisions on emotions.” But this experience was due to Kerr’s ill feelings towards Tatum; at least, that’s what former Cs guard Evan Turner believes.

During a recent episode of the Club 520 podcast, Turner said, “I felt like he was targeted, bro. There’s something deeper going on. I felt like it was something deeper than just rotations.” He even added that Steve Kerr left the job because otherwise he’d have been fired. But for now, the Team USA picture is a distant thought. Another NBA season is approaching and Jayson Tatum has every chance of elevating himself as not only the face of 2K games but also of the league.