Paul Pierce and Draymond Green agree that Jayson Tatum Olympic team benching was disrespectful

Hall of Famer Celtics legend Paul Pierce and championship winning Golden State Warrior Draymond Green agreeing on something? Is it a full moon or has the underworld frozen over? Whatever the case, the topic which sees Pierce and Green agreeing is the contention surrounding the Jason Taytum Olympic team benching when Team USA Men’s Basketball faced off against Team Serbia last week. Though Tatum has since played for Team USA Men’s Basketball in subsequent games and Team USA head coach Steve Kerr has since admitted that the decision to bench Tatum was a result of matchups and wanting to allot time to reigning USA Olympic basketball scoring champion Kevin Durant, the topic still remains a sore one for many NBA analysts and former players alike.

“I don’t think this was humbling. This was more like a slap in the face,” Pierce said during an appearance on FS1′s “Undisputed” on Friday. “Think about this: After the game, Kerr was like, what was the word he used? He felt bad. Felt like an idiot, and then you try and sit (Joel) Embiid in the next game to kind of justify it. Like, ‘Look, I sat the MVP.’ Nah, that ain’t what this was.

“Just Celtic hate. Good old Celtic hate,” Pierce continued. “That’s all it’s ever been.”

The specificity of Pierce’s word choice when describing the Jayson Tatum Olympic team benching situation as not being “humbling” refers to Tatum’s direct response to the situation himself, which he described as a “humbling” experience.

“Definitely a humbling experience, right?” Tatum told The Athletic. “Win a championship, new contract, cover of (NBA) 2K and then you sit a whole game. Cover of Sports Illustrated. So it was definitely a humbling experience.”

As mentioned earlier, Draymond Green thinks the Jayson Tatum Olympic team benching was nonsensical as well.

“You don’t not play Jayson Tatum,” Green said on a recent episode of his podcast, ‘The Draymond Green Show.’ “That man just won an NBA championship, he’s on the cover of NBA 2K, on the cover of Sports Illustrated, saying ‘Cheers,’ and just signed the biggest contract in NBA history. Oh, and by the way, your reward is to sit down and don’t play in the first Olympic game.”

Pierce elaborated on his reasons for taking umbrage with the Jayson Tatum Olympic team benching.

“This guy is coming off a championship. He’s been first-team All-NBA for three straight years,” Pierce continued. “You know what that means? I’m one of the five best players on the planet. On the planet for the last three years. People think I’m one of the five best players on the planet, and I can’t get in a game?

“… Let me tell you something: Jayson Tatum matches up with everybody,” Pierce added. “… He’s athletically gifted enough to guard all those positions. Humbling as he may put it, yeah, he can say those words, but I’m gonna say this was an insult. Pure insult to a player of his caliber.”

Do you agree with Paul Pierce and Draymond Green’s very vocal disagreement with coach Steve Kerr’s decision surrounding the Jayson Tatum Olympic team benching? Was the situation disrespectful to Tatum? Let us know in the comments.