2024 has been a banner year for Boston Celtics stars Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday, and Derrick White. Not only did they hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy as NBA champions in June, but they also added Olympic gold to their résumés by helping Team USA secure victory over France at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. The trio’s accomplishments have now placed them in an exclusive club of players who have won both an NBA championship and an Olympic gold medal in the same calendar year.
In the gold medal game, Tatum and Holiday contributed eight points combined in Team USA’s 98-87 win. Although White didn’t see action in the final, his overall performance throughout the tournament played a key role in the team’s success.
Winning an NBA title and an Olympic gold medal are impressive feats on their own, but achieving both in the same year is exceedingly rare. Prior to this summer, only six players in history had managed this dual triumph.
Jrue Holiday was already part of this elite group, having won gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (held in 2021 due to COVID-19) just months after capturing the 2021 NBA Championship with the Milwaukee Bucks. Now, alongside his Celtics teammates Tatum and White, he enters the record books once more. The trio joins the ranks of basketball legends who have accomplished this remarkable feat.
Here’s the full list of players who have won an NBA title and an Olympic gold medal in the same year:
- 1992: Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen (Chicago Bulls and Team USA)
- 1996: Scottie Pippen (Chicago Bulls and Team USA)
- 2012: LeBron James (Miami Heat and Team USA)
- 2016: Kyrie Irving (Cleveland Cavaliers and Team USA)
- 2021: Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton (Milwaukee Bucks and Team USA)
- 2024: Jayson Tatum, Derrick White, and Jrue Holiday (Boston Celtics and Team USA)
With this year’s triumph, Holiday also joins Scottie Pippen as one of only two players to have won both an NBA championship and an Olympic gold medal in the same year on two separate occasions.
For the Celtics, this marks another historic achievement. Tatum, White, and Holiday join Larry Bird (1992) as the only players to win Olympic gold while donning the Celtics’ green. NBA players first became eligible to compete in the Olympics in 1992, making this a relatively modern but significant milestone in the history of the sport.
As the Boston Celtics celebrate their championship season, their players’ contributions to Team USA’s gold medal victory add another layer of prestige to what has already been an extraordinary year. With Tatum, White, and Holiday now cemented in this rarefied club, their legacy continues to grow, both in the NBA and on the international stage.
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