This will be the first time Jayson Tatum competes at the Olympics, and it is also the first Olympics season in which the US team competes since Kobe Bryant, unfortunately, passed away.

In two weeks, the US basketball team will leave for Tokyo, Japan to attend the 2021 Olympics, looking for their fourth consecutive gold medal.

The US squad was announced not long ago, led by Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum, and Damian Lillard. 

Yesterday, the player’s jersey numbers were revealed, and prominent among them is Jayson Tatum, who will inherit the shirt number from the late basketball legend Kobe Bryant.

The late Los Angeles Lakers legend was not only Jayson Tatum’s idol but also extremely close to the young player.

During the last years of his life, Kobe practiced privately with Jayson Tatum many times, becoming a true senior and teacher. So when he inherited the US team’s number 10 shirt at the Olympics, Tatum felt very emotional.

“I will be very proud because this is such a great honor that I cannot describe it,” Jayson Tatum shared. “I will wear it proudly and responsibly.”

“I recall a conversation I had with him, apparently after the match. Kobe said that there will be a lot of people who don’t understand what we’re doing, how we’re training and playing.

He emphasized that to become a special person or a great player, one needs to adopt a mentality of having nothing to lose and being willing to sacrifice everything.

Kobe told me to consider one single question in my career: ‘What are you willing to do to become great?’ After that, I had a very different way of thinking about training and competing,” Tatum added.

This will be the first time Jayson Tatum competes at the Olympics, and is also the first Olympics season in which the US team competes since Kobe Bryant, unfortunately, passed away.

This helps not only Tatum personally but also many other players on the team who want to win this match to pay tribute to “The Black Mamba”.

“This is a very special Olympics. I would never want to neglect or take it lightly. This number 10 shirt, I have responsibility for it and will contribute to the best of my ability,” the Boston Celtics striker added.

Currently, Jayson Tatum and his teammates are gathering in Las Vegas, going through the US team’s training camp lasting from July 6-18.

During this time, the US team will have 5 friendly matches against 4 teams including Nigeria, Argentina, and Spain, and 2 matches against Australia.