Tatum dreams of playing for USA at senior level

BOSTON (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019) -Jayson Tatum already knows how it feels to win a world title for the United States. And his dream of playing for USA Basketball at the senior level just might come true at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019. 

The 20-year-old was a part of the USA teams that captured the trophies at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2014 and FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2015 -following the crown at the FIBA U16 Americas Championship 2013.  

“Playing for the USA team when I was in high school was a big honor and I had a great time, a great experience and hopefully now I can keep that going,” said Tatum.

Tatum's comments came in a video interview which is part of the Dare to Dream. These videos showcase basketball stars' views and experiences when representing their country, sharing reason why playing for the national team is so special. Click here to watch all the videos.

Tatum excelled in his rookie season in the NBA with the Boston Celtics and is considered one of the team’s top young future stars. That development may just bring the 6ft 8in (2.03m) forward into the United States team looking to win a third straight World Cup crown.

“It’s a dream of mine to play on the USA team at a national level. It’s really, really cool to see the best of the best represent the country,” said Tatum, who averaged 11.3 points and 3.1 rebounds at the U17 tournament and 13.9 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists at the U19 World Cup.

United States are joint leaders of their group in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Americas Qualifiers and seem to have good chances of qualifying for China 2019. Should they reach the World Cup the Americans will face the challenge of taking every opposing team’s best shot. Tatum witnessed that first hand at the 2015 U19 World Cup, where United States needed overtime to overcome Croatia 79-71.

“(International basketball) just keeps growing. It’s good for the game. The competition level keeps going up,” Tatum said. “It’s exciting for the players and especially the fans that are watching that would like to see good basketball.”

Tatum, for his part, is not afraid of big dreams.

“Dare to Dream means to me no matter how young you are or where you come from no dream is too big. If you put your mind to it, there’s no better feeling than doing what you set out to do from a young age,” Tatum said.

And for Tatum, that is also playing for United States at the senior level - possibly at China 2019.

Watch Kevin Love, Ben Simmons, Lauri Markkanen and Markelle Fultz explaining why they love to represent their country on the Dare to Dream series here.

FIBA