Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics has been taking barbs from just about everyone in social media after he declined a potential invite to the NBA HORSE Challenge due to not having a hoop at his home.
Celtics boss Danny Ainge added himself to the fun, mocking the third-year wing after he's going struggled after never going without basketball for more than two to three weeks.
Ainge poked fun at Tatum in a video of him shooting hoops in his home:
“That’s mostly directed towards Jayson,” Ainge said in a conference call with reporters on Wednesday, according to Tom Westerholm of MassLive. “Just to let him know that I had a hoop right there. He can come use it any time he wants. It’s all his. I can even loan him Lil’ Weezy Dog to play defense for him on his ball handling drills.”
Tease aside, Ainge hopes that Tatum can get some hoop action during this period in limbo — for the sake of practice if not for his own sanity.
“I’ve gone to college games and high school gyms and there’s like 40 or 50 people in the building, and, you know, it’s still a good game,” Ainge said. “I’ve been involved in practices where there are zero fans in the room, and it is intense and it is a battle. Matter of fact, there’s many times where I said, like, ‘I wish you guys would play as hard against our opponents as you play against one another.’ So I think that it’s not ideal, but I think it could work.”
Tatum might not get to own his own indoor basketball court until he cashes in on his rookie-scale contract extension, but he will need to make due with whatever is available during these tough times.
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