The USA Basketball men’s Team had several highlights from their 2024 Olympics campaign opener against Serbia. However, the 110-84 victory wasn’t as sweet for Tyrese Haliburton and Jayson Tatum as they received no game time. This controversial decision of Steve Kerr’s had Stephen A. Smith fuming. The ESPN analyst even went on a passionate rant, cussing the coach for not accommodating Tatum in the rotation.
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Tatum is the only member from this LeBron James-led squad to receive an All-NBA First Team selection this past 2023-2024 campaign. Additionally, Taco Jay also had a successful postseason, lifting the Larry O’Brien trophy. However, Kerr didn’t think that these achievements were enough for him to trust Tatum with any minutes during the USA v. Serbia clash on Sunday.
The veteran analyst seemed to be baffled by Kerr’s decision to keep the Boston Celtics star benched for the entire game. In a minute-long rant during an episode of “The Stephen A. Smith Show”, he called out the head coach’s justification as “bullsh*t” and condemned the Warriors coach for treating Tatum as a water boy. “The reigning, defending NBA champion Jayson Tatum. And you can’t find minutes? In a 26-point lopsided victory, you can’t find one minute?
Steve Kerr, that’s some straight bulls**t. You gotta be kidding me. And to have him go through an entire NBA season and then go through the playoffs and capture a championship and still take time in his offseason to join Team USA and to have a champion riding the bench, like he’s some damn waterboy. You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Tatum getting benched is BS pic.twitter.com/Z2FfRs14yJ
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 29, 2024
Following the 26-point blowout win over Nikola Jokić and co., Kerr tried to make sense of his decision to keep Tatum benched for the entirety of the battle. A move that wasn’t taken well by millions of basketball enthusiasts, Kerr explained how Kevin Durant’s return to the lineup made the lineups a bit more complicated.
While Kerr did admit feeling like an “idiot” for not giving the former Duke Blue Devil any game time, he did promise that the 6ft 8” forward would be in the rotation during the USA’s upcoming clash against South Sudan.
“Yeah, it’s tough but Jayson (Tatum) handled it really well. I talked to him before the game that it might play out this way with Kevin (Durant) coming back, the lineups that I wanted to get to, but that’ll change. Jayson’s gonna play… I felt like an idiot not playing him. But, (in) a 40-minute game, you can’t play more than 10.”
“[Jayson Tatum] handled it 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… [In] a 40-minute game, you can’t play more than 10.”
— Steve Kerr pic.twitter.com/Xxs5eRFbt9
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) July 28, 2024
It’ll be interesting to see how Kerr tweaks his lineup to accommodate Tyrese Haliburton and Jayson Tatum in the rotation on Wednesday. From what it seems like either of the three – Devin Booker, Jrue Holiday, and Derrick White – will witness a dip in their game time to allow the two All-NBA players to spend time on the hardcourt.
Tatum had 9 points in 16 minutes against South Sudan during the London Showcase ahead of the 2024 Olympics. He will certainly demand the ball much more this time around and hope to finish with a better stat line than before, helping the USA clinch a comfortable victory, unlike the exhibition game.
