Jayson Tatum is coming off a rough NBA Finals showing that saw his teammate, Jaylen Brown, essentially have to carry him to his first championship.
Despite that, Tatum was placed on Team USA for the 2024 Paris Olympics while Brown was not. This obviously led to some ill-will, including Brown making some snaky comments and Tatum refusing to defend him.
This week Tatum’s bad run continued when Team USA head coach, Steve Kerr, decided to bench him for the opening game against Serbia.
Kerr tried to play the move off as a mistake on his part in the aftermath, but the reality is that Team USA looked great with Tatum not playing.
“I felt like an idiot not playing him,” Kerr said afterward, despite the fact that he opted to play both of Tatum’s teammates in Jrue Holiday and Derrick White.
On Monday, the real reason Tatum was benched emerged.
steve kerr choosing to bring derrick white on the olympic team instead of jaylen brown and then making sure to only play derrick white and not jayson tatum so as to sow unrest on the celtics is some phil jackson level of mind games lol
— Shea Serrano (@SheaSerrano) July 28, 2024
Obviously that is something of a joke, but it does speak to the fact that Tatum’s skillset doesn’t necessarily fit on this Team USA squad.
There are a lot of guys on the team who can replace his offensive production, whereas Holiday’s defense and White’s roleplayer-esque nature are super valuable.
For what it’s worth, Kerr has promised to play Tatum on Wednesday against South Sudan.
Steve Kerr said he told Jayson Tatum before the game that the rotations may play out like this:
“That’ll change, every game is going to be different.”
“He’s an amazing guy, great player, and he handled it beautifully. He’ll be back out there next game.”
(Via @espn) pic.twitter.com/ZT9rskISsi
— Noa Dalzell 🏀 (@NoaDalzell) July 28, 2024
“Jayson will play (on Wednesday),” Kerr said. “I’m not gonna answer your next question, which is, ‘If he plays, who doesn’t?’ But we’re gonna need him, and part of this job for me is to keep everybody engaged and ready, because my experience with this is crazy stuff happens.”
Will Team USA ultimately be better or worse with Tatum on the court? Time will tell.
A graduate from the University of Texas, Anthony Amador has been credentialed to cover the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and high school games all over the Lone Star State. Currently, his primary beats are the NBA, MLB, NFL and UFC.
