A lot has been documented about the Jayson Tatum and Steve Kerr controversy. JT’s Olympics plans went south despite winning the NBA championship with the Celtics. Most people expressed support for the Celtics forward while some thought otherwise. However, the Los Angeles Clippers coach, Tyronn Lue, came to offer some soothing words for his close family relative. In the pre-match press conference between the Celtics and Clippers, a reporter inquired whether the two discussed the snub. And oh yes, they did!

“Yeah, I mean. Talked to him before and after, doing. You know, that’s my cousin, so it’s hard. To see him the way he felt. You know, I know he wanted to play and be in the All-NBA three years in a row, and the type of player he’s become since he got in the league. I know it’s tough for him,” said Lue.

Ty Lue is a cousin of Tatum’s father, Justin, as they share a tight bond. It becomes complex when you’re on the backroom staff for the Olympics only to see your talented relative getting benched for Team USA. Certainly, it doesn’t strike the right chord when a crisis like that arises.

Lue continued in the presser, “So my job as a coach and as a family member, just to you know, make sure you stay positive and make sure that his head was in it. So it was a tough moment. You know, it was a tough moment. And so you know, you never want to see anyone go through that, especially when it’s your family.” Credit to Ty for putting an arm over his shoulder during trepid times!

“But we got through it. Like I said, we won gold. I was happy for him, the way he handled himself as a professional. But, like I said, it was a tough situation for him,” concluded Lue. It’s a tough spot when you need to support your cousin, but you’re also on the same coaching team as the person he’s apparently having problems with! In the end, Team USA won gold and JT stayed professional with the goals ahead or we might say, the gold ahead! But that wasn’t the end of the Tatum-Kerr fiasco.

Steve Kerr denies issues with Jayson Tatum during the Olympics

When the Celtics played the Golden State Warriors at the TD Garden, Steve Kerr received a chorus of boos from the fans. They clearly made him know how they felt. However, Kerr had the last laugh by defeating the Celtics 118-112 in their own backyard. Talk about a way to silence your naysayers. The real story came to the spotlight after the match when Steve Kerr spoke about the issue with Jayson Tatum.

According to CBS News, Kerr clarified, “Do I have any regrets? We can’t control the story. That’s this job. From the beginning in Vegas, the whole thing was, ‘Hey, we’re in this together. We’ve got 12 Hall of Famers and we’re just committed to winning.'”

And oh yes, they did finish the job. Team USA dominated throughout the Olympic games and won their 17th gold medal. It’s high time we realize we are the gold standard of basketball in the world and nobody can touch us.

Steve Kerr, though, gave his flowers to his players by stating, “I don’t give it a ton of thought other than I didn’t enjoy not playing Jayson against Serbia, not playing Joel [Embiid] against South Sudan. Those are not fun decisions, but our guys were all amazing.”

To sum up, mark your calendars for January 21st, 2025. The Celtics meet the Warriors again, which will prove spicy as usual. With both personalities moving on, it’s interesting to see if they don’t embrace each other after the game; they didn’t hug it out the last time… In a day and age where players are more cordial, we love this era of basketball, with rivalries spinning all over the place.