It was no surprise that Team USA handled their business on Sunday via an impressive 110-84 victory over Nikola Jokic and Serbia. What came as a shock for many fans, however, is how Boston Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum logged zero minutes throughout the contest.
National team head coach Steve Kerr has now spoken out about this unexpected turn of events, and the Golden State Warriors shot-caller got brutally honest about the issue at hand.
Team USA: Steve Kerr Explains Decision to Bench Jayson Tatum
After logging a healthy DNP in Team USA’s Olympic opener, there was some suspicion that Tatum was nursing some sort of injury. The Celtics talisman shut down those rumors by saying that he was fine and that there was nothing wrong with him.
After the game, Kerr admitted that it was his decision to bench Tatum in favor of Kevin Durant’s return from injury.
“Yeah, it’s tough,” Kerr said. “But Jayson handled it really well. I talked to him today before the game, that it may play out this way just with Kevin [Durant] coming back. … I felt like an idiot not playing him but [in] a 40-minute game, you can’t play more than 10 [players].”
That must have been a tough conversation, but as Coach Kerr said, Tatum took it like a pro.
— Oh Yes He Did (@OhYesHeDid24) July 28, 2024
Kerr also made it clear that this is not going to be the trend moving forward. He’s already stated that Tatum will be “back out there next game.” It was merely a tactical decision not to have the Celtics forward take the floor against Serbia, which should no longer be the case in their succeeding matchups.
Tatum’s next chance to play will be on Monday against Japan.
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