Was Jayson Tatum Blatantly Disrespected By Steve Kerr?
Two players did not see the floor in Team USA basketball's first Olympic matchup in Villeneuve d'Ascq, France, as the USA defeated Serbia 110-84. Tyrese Haliburton, who is just 24 years old, made his senior national team debut at the 2023 FIBA World Cup, where the USA finished fourth.
The other player who didn’t see a single minute of playtime was 2020 gold medalist and 2024 NBA champion Jayson Tatum. Yes, it is Jayson Tatum, who just became the 6th player in NBA history to win a title and lead his team in points, rebounds, and assists. A player who starred alongside Kevin Durant in Team USA’s last Olympic run to the gold medal could not see the floor for even five minutes on Sunday.
“We talked about it before the game, and I told him it might play out this way with KD (Kevin Durant) coming back," said head coach Steve Kerr. "He’s going to play. I felt like an Idiot not playing him.”
Kerr Told Tatum Beforehand?
Kerr said he expects Tatum to make his mark the rest of the way and should get an opportunity going forward. After not seeing the court in the first half on Sunday, Tatum didn’t appear to follow his normal warmup routine during halftime. Some even wondered if he could be hurt after the whole game without checking in.
“No, I’m good,” said Tatum postgame when asked if he was feeling sick.
As a result, Tatum was officially a DNP-CD (did not play, coach's decision) on Sunday, which should be an indictment of head coach Steve Kerr.
"The hardest part of this job is you're sitting at least a couple of guys who are world-class, some of the very best players on Earth," Kerr said. "On one hand, it makes no sense at all. On the other, I'm asking these guys to just commit to winning one game and then move on to the next one. I have to do the same thing. And so I felt like last night those were the combinations that made the most sense."
Kerr said he went with the combinations that made sense. How is a 6’10” scoring, playmaking, and rebounding two-way wing not part of that winning combination? Kevin Durant and LeBron James were on fire in the first half. Steve Kerr should still be able to find five minutes to get Tatum going with that group.
In 2021, when the roster was much thinner, Team USA won gold with Tatum as the second leading scorer behind Kevin Durant. Tatum has proven on the biggest stage, in the NBA and FIBA, that he affects winning the second he steps on the floor. Kerr couldn’t see the potential for a lineup with Kevin Durant and Tatum playing side by side despite them having won a gold medal together not even four years ago.
“I totally disagree with what happened, I thought it was extremely disrespectful," said ESPN NBA Analyst Tim Legler. "Jayson Tatum has a greater resume than guys that were playing."
Jayson Tatum entered 2024 with a chance to join an elite list of players to win an NBA championship and Olympic gold the same summer. He and Celtics teammate Derrick White can join an accomplished list, including Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Khris Middleton, and Jrue Holiday (2021 & 2024).
Result Of Tatum's Shooting?
Steve Kerr elected to go with a starting lineup of Steph Curry, Jrue Holiday, Devin Booker, LeBron James, and Joel Embiid on Sunday. Kerr has been a fan of surrounding Curry with guards and elected to do so with Holiday and Booker.
During the five exhibition games, Jayson Tatum could not get a rhythm from three-point land. That could have been what Kerr was looking for, as he inserted Booker into the lineup, and he was able to convert on multiple three-point attempts.
Serbia also forced Kerr to use lineups heavy on the bigs to combat Nikola Jokic. Embiid, Anthony Davis, and Bam Adebayo played big roles in Team USA’s win on Sunday. Tatum’s next chance to see the floor will be a matchup with South Sudan on Wednesday.
Did Tatum shoot the lights out from three in the exhibition games? No, he averaged only 6.7 points per game in those games, but he is a career 38% shooter from deep. He also led his team to a championship throughout the NBA playoffs while leading the team in points, rebounds, and assists.
He fits well with this roster and deserves to show it on the court. A frontcourt trio with any of Durant, Anthony Davis, or Bam Adebayo and himself would be stifling on the defensive end. While it is not asinine for Steve Kerr to say that there will be matchups where Tatum will play more, a player of his caliber receiving zero minutes is a step too far.
It would be one thing if Tatum was a turnstile on defense or a ball hog on offense, but he is neither. He is one of the premier two-way players in the game! Tatum has been a member of the First Team All-NBA going on three straight seasons now. He is 26, already has a gold medal from the 2020 games, and has been in the Team USA circuit since he was a teenager. A player of this caliber deserves to see the floor; there is no way around it.
Not to mention, Tatum is coming off the greatest team accomplishment in the sport of basketball, winning an NBA championship. He played winning basketball all season long and throughout the playoffs. He took a backseat on offense to allow players like Porzingis, White, and Holiday to thrive with their looks. He knows how to play with a talented roster!
No matter which way Kerr words it, benching Jayson Tatum is a mistake. It is a bad look for someone who has paid their dues with Team USA and worked his way up through the years to become the player that he is. He just won an NBA championship and could’ve taken the summer off to rest and recuperate for the upcoming NBA season. Tatum instead chose to sacrifice his time so that he could represent his country, and he was rewarded with a spot on the bench.
The roster is stacked at Tatum’s position, with LeBron James and Kevin Durant ahead of him and showing no signs of slowing down. That doesn't mean that LeBron has to play 28 out of 40 game minutes or Devin Booker has to be in for 26 minutes himself. A few minutes taken away from each of them and possibly one of the bigs frees up enough time for Tatum to make his mark.
Kerr's excuse that it largely boiled down to a matchup decision against Serbia is ridiculous. It is his job to find minutes for the best players in the world on his roster. Tatum has no glaring weaknesses in his game, and his presence would only help his team. Not even giving him a chance to see the floor was a disrespectful oversight by head coach Steve Kerr.
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