They were teammates for only a season and rivals for a lot longer. But Jeff Teague has shown some very protective feelings for Jayson Tatum and the Celtics recently. From Jaylen Brown getting snubbed out of the Olympics roster to Tatum not getting his overdue glory, the ex-NBA pro has the same grievances about Team USA’s management as most of us. It’s only amplified as the reigning NBA champ’s token presence was limited again before the basketball finals. That leaves Steve Kerr the target of Jeff Teague’s frustrations.

It spilled over again on the Club 520 podcast immediately after the semi-final game against Serbia. Team USA had a nail-biting 95-91 victory over Serbia thanks to its veterans. But Jayson Tatum’s benching took center stage in the discussion. His DNP status in the semifinals made Teague declare, “Jayson Tatum, he’s done with the Olympics bro.”

Tatum has been the picture of dignity, a strong backbone cheering for the team. No one can gauge how he feels to be in the Olympics but not play in the important games – the opening and a medal round. While his Club 520 co-hosts hope Tatum will get redemption in 2028, Teague doesn’t even think that will happen. “He’s never going to play [in the Olympics] again.” 

He doesn’t mean that Team USA won’t invite him back, he means that Tatum will opt out. Teague felt this situation is so absurd that, “They just ruined everything for the NBA right now. The USA team did.” The reason he made such a strong comment is because of the disrespect to the reigning champions.

After multiple playoff appearances, Jaylen Brown finally won Boston Celtics its first championship since 2008. But Teague said leaving him out of the Olympics was basically telling him he’s not an elite player. Tatum got that due along with his Jrue Holiday. But it raised a few eyebrows when Derrick White was chosen over Brown. And yet the latter two had more minutes than Tatum. Teague translates this to telling Tatum, “he the worst player out of all the elites.”

An imbalanced player rotation in the Olympics is all it took to make elite athletes look irrelevant and that’s ruined the NBA for Teague. He pins the blame on Steve Kerr again for this mismanagement.

Jeff Teague’s anger against Steve Kerr grows

Kerr’s first time as head coach of Team USA will forever be marred by his strategy around Jayson Tatum. No one can see a disadvantage playing him even if for a couple of minutes. Yet when Kerr had Tatum warming the bench in the opening game against Serbia, nothing he said could salvage it. Teague sympathized with Kerr’s difficulty to play everyone, yet said “How Tyrese Haliburton and Jayson Tatum don’t get in the game?”

Tatum had sympathy minutes in later games. But the anger only magnified in the second time Serbia and USA met. To everyone else, Kerr sounds like Tatum fits nowhere in his strategy to halt Nikola Jokic. Possibly because the Celtics lost to the Nuggets in their last matchup. In the semis, Serbia was in the lead for 35 minutes in a 40-minute game. It took Steph Curry to close the gap with nine 3-pointers.

But it left everyone bitter wondering if that lead would be different had Tatum been on the floor. Now Team USA meets Victor Wembenyama in the finals. If JT plays productively, it would be a miracle. But it would be a bigger miracle if he wants to come back.

Stay tuned for more such updates. And join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show”. Our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger.