For about the first three minutes of Sunday’s 2024 Olympics victory over Serbia, Team USA left supporters feeling apprehensive. After falling behind 10-2 early in the game, the United States turned things around thanks to strong efforts from Kevin Durant and LeBron James.
While Team USA’s 110-84 triumph was stunning, one of the standout stories was that of All-NBA forward Jayson Tatum, who did not play a single minute.
After the game, head coach Steve Kerr stated he felt “crazy” knowing Tatum might not play in the team’s opener. He highlighted Kevin Durant’s return as the key reason for the decision, according to Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe.
Playing more than ten players in a 40-minute game is extremely difficult, according to Kerr. “I just went to the combinations that I thought made the most sense after Kevin came back.” It appears absurd. When I looked over everything and decided these were the lineups I wanted to see, I felt I was insane.”
In addition, Kerr expressed great admiration for Tatum’s handling of the choice, calling it “incredibly professional” and noting that the standout player for the Boston Celtics will “make his mark” during the Olympics.
“Jayson has made the first team of the NBA for the past three years.” He is among the world’s top players. I spoke with him and proceeded with the pairings I thought would make sense; he was really professional.
He declared, “[Tatum will] leave his mark.” “Our guys understand that winning six games and putting all of the NBA drama in the rearview mirror is the key to this whole thing.” The ultimate pro and champion, Jayson, handled it brilliantly and will be ready for the next match.
The only two players who did not play in Team USA’s opening game were Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton, the guard for the Indiana Pacers, although the choice regarding the Celtics forward was rather unexpected. Despite Durant missing all four of the Team USA exhibition games due to injury, Tatum played 14–21 minutes per game.
While it would be interesting to see how Kerr chooses to proceed with his rotations, it would be shocking if Tatum received another DNP-CD on Wednesday when Team USA played South Sudan, who had just defeated Puerto Rico.
