Dave Portnoy wants the U.S. team to lose in the gold medal match against France.
The Barstool Sports founder and die-hard Celtics fan was infuriated by Jayson Tatum’s benching during the Summer Olympics, and jumped in support of France ahead of Saturday’s final.
“I was against [the U.S.]”I want France to win by 1000 points. I don’t care if I’m American. I hate this team because of the disrespect Steve Kerr has shown to Jayson Tatum this entire tournament.”
“I hope France beats them to a pulp,” Portnoy said after a three-minute rant, “and I hope Tatum puts on some brass knuckles and breaks Steve Kerr’s jaw on his way out.”
Tatum, who won the NBA title with Boston in June, has not played in two of the U.S. team’s five games through the Paris Olympics.
Tatum averaged 6.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists in the three games he played.
Tatum called being benched after USA’s 2024 Olympic Games opener against Serbia two weeks ago a “humbling experience.”
“A championship, a new contract, the cover of (NBA) 2K and then I got to sit on the bench for the whole game,” Tatum said. “The cover of Sports Illustrated. So it was just a really humbling experience.”
Tatum’s mother, Brandi Cole, appeared on X to question Kerr’s decision to bench her son and to vent her frustrations to ESPN anchor Dick Vitale, who was also perplexed by the Celtics star’s lack of playing time.
“Can someone please tell me if @jaytatum0 is injured? He’s not getting the PT (playing time) expected of an All-NBA player,” Vitale wrote.
“No, I’m not,” Cole responded, “But please tell me if you find out what’s going on. It’s unacceptable and it doesn’t make sense.”
