Coach K won an Olympic gold medal with Bryant in 2008, he surely knows a thing or two. Hear what he had to say about Jason Tatum
Mike Krzyzewski, affectionately known as Coach K, had stern words for Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum after the basketball star was seen criticizing his coach during Team USA’s win over Serbia.
Tatum was frustrated with his limited minutes in the game, which saw LeBron James and Kevin Durant lead the team to a 110-84 victory over Nikola Jokic’s squad at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France.
His visible displeasure on the sidelines drew the ire of Coach K, who emphasized the importance of team unity.
Coach K, who guided Team USA to a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games alongside Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, shared his perspective with the media.
Coach K hits at Jason Tatum
“It’s a difficult assignment, and we usually ended up with a rotation of about nine players and three others would play limited minutes or not play at all,” Krzyzewski said. Whatever happens for the team, you accept it because, again, you get back to that one question, did we win? Okay, this is the way we have to do it, as long as we win, I’m okay with everything. There are no individual accolades, it’s gotta be a collective effort.”
Mike Krzyzewski on his time with Team USA
Reflecting on his experience, Coach K recounted the success of the Redeem Team, which won the gold with a 118-107 victory over Spain, restoring the USA’s basketball reputation after a disappointing bronze finish in Greece in 2004.
That year, the team suffered an 89-81 loss to Argentina in the semi-finals, along with shocking defeats to Puerto Rico (92-73) and Lithuania (94-90) in the group stages. These losses marked only the third and fourth defeats in Olympic basketball for the USA.
