This year’s Paris Olympics saw something fans might never have witnessed ever before. For the first time in US basketball history, players have been benched for not just a quarter to two but for entire games. Questioning Steve Kerr’s decision-making as a head coach, NBA legend Charles Barkley speaks up on benching Jayson Tatum.
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Sir Charles gave his two cents on Team USA’s head coach benching superstar players on his appearance on The Dan Patrick Show. Specifically, his decision to bench Tatum, the most recent NBA champion.
Talking to Dan Patrick, the Philadelphia 76ers legend gave an interesting analogy on the Boston Celtics forward. Barkley drew comparisons to LeBron James and Kevin Durant, claiming Tatum might be better than the two, given the respective stages of their careers they’re in.
“If you’re gonna go to the Olympics, everybody deserves to play…I don’t think it’s that much of a dropoff putting Jayson Tatum in the game…KD and LeBron, and Bam, they’re all great. But at this stage of their career, Jayson Tatum might be the best one out of them four.”
Barkley cleared the air that he meant no disrespect to any of the three players he compared Tatum with. Mentioning LeBron in the G.O.A.T. debate and labeling Durant and Bam Adebayo as some of the greats, Sir Charles felt Tatum deserves the same amount of respect and recognition.
Not only is JT the youngest out of the four, but he is probably coming off his most successful year in the league as well. So, in terms of where all four players stand concerning their careers, Barkley felt that Tatum was the best choice out of the four.
Jason’s performance in the Olympics so far
Team USA has played five games in the Olympics so far. The squad recently eliminated Serbia from contention, defeating them 95-91. LeBron James poured in 16 points but the real star was Stephen Curry and his 36-point outburst.
But looking at the box score, Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton were benched once again by head coach Steve Kerr. Durant, on the other hand, came off the bench and contributed 9 points.
However, looking at the overall performance of all the players, it has been LBJ and KD in that order who have contributed the most out of the four players.
Bam has been doing a great job in terms of being a rim protector and a daunting presence in the paint. Unfortunately, Tatum has not been getting the same amount of time on the floor as the rest of the three stars.
While Kerr has been very strict and selective of the players he chooses to put forward on the court, it seems as if JT has been the scapegoat out of the four. Tatum is the only player who has been benched by Kerr when talking about the four stars in question.
But at the same time, players were already made aware of the high stakes in these Olympics and how important it was for them to win the gold this year. So, by the looks of it, Tatum may be the go-to choice for getting benched in the upcoming games as well.
