Jamal Crawford Makes It Abundantly Clear Jayson Tatum’s Team USA Benching Is Not Agreeable With Him

Abhishek Dhariwal | 10/08/2024
Jamal Crawford Makes It Abundantly Clear Jayson Tatum's Team USA Benching Is Not Agreeable With Him

When a roster as stacked as USA’s plays at the Olympics, it’s always hard to give every player the minutes they feel they deserve. Sometimes it’s in-game situations, and other times it’s the coach’s rotations. In Paris, Jayson Tatum seems to have drawn the short straw on minutes played.

Tatum’s minutes disparity when compared to his Celtics teammates Jrue Holiday and Derrick White has caused a flurry of online activity, with a lot of veterans and analysts taking sides.

Jamal Crawford also took to X to express his disappointment over Steve Kerr’s decisions with the Celtics forward.

Kerr has benched quite a lot of players based on the teams they have faced in their Olympic matchups. And it seems as if the Boston Celtics star has become the most benched, upsetting Crawford as well as millions of fans. 

This is what the former three-time Sixth Man of the Year had to say.

“Yea, no.. I’m not rolling with this.”

Crawford’s reaction stemmed from Team USA head coach Steve Kerr’s statement, explaining Tatum’s benching as a ‘math problem.’

“It’s not about anything Jayson is doing or not doing. It’s just about combinations and the way that group has played together, the way Kevin has filled in since he came back from his injury. It’s just a math problem more than anything.”

Granted that Kevin Durant is a better scorer than Tatum, but given his recent year in the NBA, it seems unjustifiable to keep the Celtics star on the bench. And Kerr’s explanation for benching JT is something Crawford cannot get behind.

Tatum may not be at the same level as KD when it comes to scoring, but he is a much more all-around player currently. He can shoot, assist, and defend multiple positions on the floor.

And as Charles Barkley said on The Dan Patrick Show, Tatum may be the best option out of KD, LeBron James, and Bam Adebayo, based on where he is in his career.

Momma Tatum clears the air on her son getting benched

Watching one’s son compete in the Olympics is a dream for any parent. But to see their child go to the Olympics, only to warm the bench, is bound to make almost every parent a bit furious.

Tatum’s mother took to X, sharing her two cents on the ordeal. When an X user tweeted doubts about JT being benched because of the possibility of an unknown injury, Momma Tatum had this to say.

“No he not.  But if you find out what’s going on please let me know – unacceptable and makes NO SENSE.”

Now, the gold medal match is against France. And the lineup for the final game is likely to be Durant, Booker, Curry, LeBron, and Embiid as the starting five. So, by the looks of it, the Celtics star may end up seeing no playing time once again. 

However, fans may have something to look forward to.

France’s paint-dominant wings in Guerschon Yabusele and Mathias Lessort may cause USA some problems, in which case a two-way player like Tatum will be invaluable. All that remains to be seen is whether Kerr feels the same.

Post Edited By: Sameen Nawathe
Jayson Tatum

About the author

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Abhishek Dhariwal

A fan of Basketball since the late 2000s, Abhishek Dhaiwal has been covering the game for over five years. Having done his masters in Journalism and Mass Communication, Abhishek is an NBA sports journalist at The SportsRush. A fan of the San Antonio Spurs since the Tim Duncan era, Abhishek has an extensive knowledge of the sport and has covered more than 1500 articles. Having a firsthand experience of the sport, Abhishek has represented his city and state at a District and National level. And it is the same level of expertise he aims to bring while covering extensive topics both on and off the court of your favorite basketball stars.

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