The USA Basketball Team finished their group stage round, winning all three games with a total points difference of 64. So far, there has been no bigger point of discussion other than Steve Kerr’s questionable decision to keep Jayson Tatum benched throughout the USA’s opening match against Serbia.
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Draymond Green was the latest personality to talk about the hottest topic in the basketball world. On The Draymond Green Show podcast, the Golden State Warriors’ power forward began speaking about the issue by letting out some words of encouragement to Jayson Tatum first.
Having participated and won the Olympic gold medal twice, Green is more than qualified when claiming that “no one cares” who scores the most points or gets minutes if the team wins gold. Green lifted JT’s spirit,
“When you win the gold medal, no one cares who scored the point, no one cares who played the minutes. Did you win a gold medal or did you not?”
After he was done keeping Tatum’s morale up, he moved on to question Steve Kerr for this decision.
“You don’t not play Jayson Tatum. That man just won an NBA championship, cover of NBA 2K, cover of Sports Illustrated… just signed the biggest contract in NBA history. Oh and by the way your reward is sit down and don’t play in the first Olympic game.”
Apart from the achievements that Dray listed, the Boston Celtics superstar is also the only member of the American squad to receive an All-NBA First Team nod. Green has played alongside Tatum in an Olympics setting during the 2020 Tokyo Games. With Tatum finishing the contest three years ago as the second-highest scorer on the team, Green is valid when stating that the former can be an asset if given the opportunity.
It was bold of Green to stand up for his close friend. Defending Tatum comes at the cost of criticizing his Golden State Warriors coach’s decisions. While his comments could complicate their relationship, Draymond Green did what he believed was the best thing to do for his friend.
Steve Kerr regrets not playing Jayson Tatum against Serbia
The USA had no difficulty in blowing Nikola Jokić and co. out 110-84. Kerr couldn’t have asked for a better performance from his boys. Despite a near-perfect performance, the head coach admitted feeling like an “idiot” for keeping Jayson Tatum benched for the entirety of the contest.
“I went with the combinations that made sense. That was for tonight. He handled it well. He’ll make his mark… I felt like an idiot not playing him… [In] a 40-minute game, you can’t play more than 10,” Kerr revealed.
Steve Kerr speaks on not playing Jayson Tatum vs Serbia
“I felt like an idiot” pic.twitter.com/LAd5nhXPSM
— Stadium Live (@StadiumLiveApp) July 29, 2024
Unlike what several claims suggest, Team USA’s head coach doesn’t have any personal vendetta against Tatum. Instead, Kerr is utilizing the group stage to test various lineups and combinations. This approach also meant that players like Tyrese Haliburton and Joel Embiid had to sit out entire games against Serbia and South Sudan, respectively, as part of Kerr’s broader strategy.
With Tatum starting the following two contests, it is safe to assume that Kerr has found a way to use the 2024 NBA champ into his rotation. It’ll be interesting to see what role is given to Tatum in the upcoming knockout stage of the competition.
