Team USA was nearly eliminated from the Olympic Games after a hard-fought win against Serbia on Thursday. And again, Jayson Tatum didn’t see a second of hardwood action.
The 2024 NBA champion, along with Tyrese Haliburton, watched the team struggle to overcome the 17-point deficit, with Steph Curry finally going red-hot in the last two minutes of the game. While the match was ongoing, Tatum’s mother retweeted a post that blasted coach Steve Kerr for not subbing him in despite Team USA’s troubles in the first three quarters of the semifinal match.
“If Kerr is watching this (the game) and willingly deciding ‘Yeah, Jayson Tatum couldn’t help here,’ then he legitimately cannot coach in 2028,” the post said, with Tatum’s mom reposting in agreement to the sentiment.
Steve Kerr previously said he felt bad for keeping Tatum on the bench in their first-ever game in the tournament. However, it seemed like the coach didn’t do much to rectify the situation. The Boston Celtics star still didn’t play as many minutes as his teammates, Derrick White and Jrue Holiday.
The Serbians looked well on their way to upset Team USA in the semifinal. If Curry, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and the rest of the team hadn’t managed a turnabout, then Tatum would have been sitting on the sidelines for nothing.
Team USA coach draws flak for benching Jayson Tatum—again
Aside from Jayson Tatum’s mom, many others criticize Team USA’s coach Steve Kerr’s decisions regarding the Celtics star’s participation in the Olympic games. One other notable name is NBA legend Kenyon Martin, Sr.
In his guest appearance on the “Gil’s Arena” podcast, Martin didn’t hold back when talking about Kerr’s questionable decision toward fellow former NBA player Gilbert Arenas.
“If Jayson Tatum were ever on your roster, would there ever be a situation where he had a DNP? What the [expletive] makes you start now? This man is 1st Team All-NBA three years in a row,” Martin said.
“If it was announced that Jayson Tatum might not play, they should have had (Kerr) [expletive] admitted to a psych ward. No, we’re just going to put somebody in. Steve, you know what? We’re going to send you back home, man. You’re not well,” Martin continued.
Tatum played only a rough total of 60 minutes in the tournament—17 against South Sudan and 23 against Puerto Rico in the group phase, and 20 against Brazil in the quarterfinals. He averaged 6.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game. The first time Kerr decided to bench him was also against Serbia in the group phase; Haliburton also did not play in that game.
One can only wonder about the difference the reigning NBA champion would have made for Team USA if he played both contests against Serbia.
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