Jayson Tatum admitted his limited playing time at the 2024 Summer Olympics was difficult for him to handle.

But he knew his head coach secretly loved it.

Asked Tuesday to reflect on his Olympic experience, Tatum said he frequently spoke with Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla during his time in Paris, which included two DNPs and the second-fewest minutes of any member of Team USA.

“Motivation, I guess you could say that if you want to simplify it,” Tatum said during Celtics media day. “In real time, it was tough. I talked to Joe a lot. Joe was probably the happiest person in the world that I didn’t win Finals MVP and I didn’t play in two games of the Olympics. That was odd, but if you know Joe, it makes sense.”

The reason for that is obvious. Mazzulla is laser-focused on leading the Celtics to another NBA championship this season, and his best player now has something more to prove after being an afterthought on the Olympic squad.

“Did I need any extra motivation coming into the season? No, I’m not gonna give anybody in particular credit that they’re motivating me to come into the season,” Tatum continued. “It was a unique circumstance, something I haven’t experienced before in my playing career. But I’m a believer that everything happens for a reason. I was coming off a championship, highest of highs, cover of [NBA] 2K, a new contract, and that happened. Whatever the reason is, I haven’t figured out yet. But I am a believer that everything happens for a reason.

“But it was a good experience. We won a gold medal, I won my second one, I was around some of the best players to play the game on a daily basis, build some friendships and was able to bring my family out there and enjoy the Olympics as a whole. So that was a plus for me, for sure.”

Tatum said focused during the leadup to training camp on fixing his jump shot, putting in extra work with trainer Drew Hanlen. He struggled as a shooter during both the NBA playoffs (31.4% from outside the restricted area) and the Olympics (0-for-16 on jump shots) and wants to clean up “a few mechanical things” before the new season tips off next month.

“Pick-up points, points, hand placement, getting lower, keeping my shoulders forward and things like that,” he explained. “… There’s some things I could’ve fixed, but just in the midst of the playoffs trying to manage your rest and things like that, it’s a little tougher. I was still playing well, just wasn’t shooting the ball as well as I would have liked, and obviously we were winning, so it wasn’t the time or place to try to fix things in that moment.”

Teammate Jaylen Brown also can play the Olympic disrespect card this season after being left off Team USA’s roster entirely, even after Kawhi Leonard bowed out before the Games due to injury.

Brown, last season’s Eastern Conference finals and NBA Finals MVP, sidestepped a question about his Olympic snub on Tuesday but said he’s “extremely motivated for obvious reasons.”

“I’m ready to get after it,” he said.