Former NBA player Dwight Howard, now playing in Taiwan, offered Jayson Tatum a spot on the Taiwan Mustangs roster. This is after Team USA head coach Steve Kerr benched the Boston Celtics star during their July 28 victory over Serbia, 110-84, to kick off their 2024 Paris Olympics campaign.

Dwight Howard's offer to Jayson Tatum

Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard (39) during the second half against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena.
Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Dwight Howard made his pitch to Jayson Tatum in a post on X (formerly Twitter), saying, “We could use another champ in our league,” referencing Tatum's 2024 NBA championship with the Celtics. Howard had won an NBA championship with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020 at the Orlando bubble.

Tatum's benching invited much scrutiny from basketball fans and observers around the world. As the star of the newest NBA champions, Tatum was expected to play a crucial role in Team USA's Olympic campaign. However, he never saw the floor in the 26-point rout of Serbia headed by Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic. Speculations quickly spread that the Celtics star was possibly nursing an injury or illness, although Tatum said after the game that he was perfectly healthy.

Head coach Steve Kerr owned up to his decision to bench Tatum to the reporters after the game. He noted that Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant was making his return to action after a hamstring injury, and he wanted Durant to catch a good rhythm that would carry over to the rest of their games. Durant had missed all of Team USA's exhibition games leading up to the Olympics. Moreover, Kerr added that he “went with combinations that made sense,” which ultimately edged out Tatum. Still, Kerr quickly added that the one-time champion forward will “make his mark” in future games.

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During the 2024 NBA Playoffs, Jayson Tatum averaged 25.0 points, 9.7 rebounds and 6.3 assists in 19 games to help the Boston Celtics clinch their league-leading 18th NBA title.

After winning the NBA title with the Lakers in 2020, Howard signed with the Philadelphia 76ers in 2021 before returning to the Lakers in 2022. In his last season in the NBA, the former NBA Defensive Player of the Year averaged 6.2 points and 5.9 rebounds in 60 games. Afterward, Howard went to Taiwan to play with the Mustangs after stints with the Taoyuan Leopards and the Mets de Guaynabo in Puerto Rico.