Getty Image / Tim Clayton
Jayson Tatum just reached the NBA mountaintop by winning his first NBA Championship with the Boston Celtics, beating the Dallas Mavericks in five games back in June. And, I’m sure that he planned on playing a huge role for the USA Basketball Men’s Olympic Team this summer in Paris.
But, when it came time for Team USA’s opening game of the 2024 Summer Olympics against Nikola Jokić and Serbia, Tatum sat on the bench and watched all 40 minutes of Team USA’s 110-84 demolition of Serbia from the bench.
Head Coach Steve Kerr simply didn’t use Tatum, or Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton for that matter, as the other ten American players carried the load in what turned out to be a pretty impressive performance, all things considered.
After the game, people were wondering if Jayson Tatum was injured, or possibly sick, as there is illness going around among athletes in Paris.
But, Tatum said he was not sick after the game. Instead Steve Kerr clarified that it was his choice to not play Jayson Tatum.
“I went with the combinations that made sense. That was for tonight. He handled it well. He’ll make his mark,” Kerr Said
It could have had something to do with the return of Kevin Durant, who was magnificent after missing the team’s exhibition games with a calf injury. That took minutes away from the deep group of forwards that the USA has, and Tatum ended up being the odd man out.
Serbia did have a lot of size, meaning that at times the USA played two of the three centers on the roster in Anthony Davis, Joel Embiid, and Bam Adebayo. That’s not always going to be the case, and those minutes could go to Jayson Tatum.
It’s hard to imagine one of the world’s best players not playing a role in this tournament.