Boston Celtics owner and governor Wyc Grousbeck was asked about star Jayson Tatum's involvement or lack thereof in Team USA which is coached by Golden State Warriors' Steve Kerr. Grousbeck would call it a “complete mystery” that Tatum is not receiving more playing time on “The Greg Hill Show.”
“I mean, I would wouldn't play Steve Kerr, let me put it that way,” Grousbeck said. “What's going on? It's a mystery. It's a complete mystery. I don't think Jayson deserves anything but praise, kudos, and playing time. I think he and Jaylen led us to this unbelievable championship and there are not apparently helping out the Olympics team, not able to be helpful in the Olympics team and just leave it at that, it's mystifying.”
In Team USA's win over Serbia where they were down by 17 points at one point, Tatum wouldn't log a single second in the game along with point guard Tyrese Haliburton. Subsequently, this would not be the first time the Celtics star receives little or even no playing time in a matchup as Kerr explained it as being a “math problem” according to The Associated Press.
“It’s not about anything Jayson is doing or not doing,” Kerr said. “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.”
Jayson Tatum's playing time on Team USA an “embarrassment”
People have been shocked by the events since Tatum is coming off of a season where he led Boston to their first championship since 2008 and received the largest contract in NBA history at $315 million. However, another figure integral to the Celtics that had criticism to Tatum's playing time was legend Bob Cousy who called it an “embarrassment” according to the Boston Globe.
“This isn’t just a snub,” Cousy said. “This is an embarrassment for that poor kid all over the [expletive] world…Everyone’s going to think that there’s something wrong this this kid. When Kerr did it last week, he was in no danger of losing the game, but in this case they got down by 17 points and he’s got to worry about losing the game. And then to not let Tatum get off the bench — to me, there’s got to be some kind of bias that he’s got against the Celtics.”
“Not playing Tatum at all says to the world, ‘Not only is he not top five, he’s not good enough to get into a close game,'” Cousy continued. “I can’t figure out Kerr’s thinking, and he’s done it twice, so he obviously feels strongly about it. He must think Tatum is a detriment, and I don’t see how he can feel that way and know anything about basketball.”
There is one more game left in Team USA's quest to win their fourth consecutive gold medal at the Olympics as they will take on France Saturday afternoon as time will tell how Tatum will be used.
Follow Us
Subscribe