In Team USA's 110-84 win over Serbia in the 2024 Paris Olympics, Jayson Tatum was notably absent from the floor. Postgame, head coach Steve Kerr admitted he messed up not playing Tatum.
“Jayson will play,” he said, per ESPN's Brian Windhorst. “I'm not going to answer your next question, which is if he plays, who doesn't? But we're going to need him, and part of this job for me is to keep everybody engaged and ready because my experience with this is crazy stuff happens.”
It's good that Kerr was honest about his mistake and he'll ensure Tatum plays in Team USA's next contest against South Sudan. However, Kerr's transparency hasn't kept him from being criticized by others. The latest to enter the fray is NBA Hall-of-Famer Charles Barkley, who didn't mince words when discussing Kerr's decision not to play Tatum.
“Well, first of all, he's got to play,” said Barkley. “Everybody on the team has to play. First and foremost. Do you have to play 25, 30 minutes? No, but it's the Olympics.
“It's not like there's a huge downgrade putting Jayson Tatum in the game. Like, come on, man. Everybody deserves to play at least ten minutes. … You can’t expect everybody to go over there and practice and then not play in the damn Olympics.”
Does Team USA need Jayson Tatum in Paris Olympics?
To Barkley's point, there's no downside to Team USA putting Tatum into the game—especially given how poorly Joel Embiid played against Serbia. However, Kerr is right about at least one thing. In a competitive tournament like this, when non-American teams are loaded with NBA (and NBA-caliber) talent, it's hard to play more than 10. He might even have to trim the second-half rotation to eight or nine players in tight games.
Even if Embiid was perhaps promised a starting spot if he joined Team USA, he's the one player in the rotation whose game is even more methodical and deliberate than Tatum's. The Americans have a massive speed and athleticism advantage against almost everyone, but Embiid often lessens that. With that in mind, Anthony Davis probably makes more sense on this version of Team USA, which values quick decisions and already has tons of ball-handling and scoring from the perimeter.
With Davis as Team USA's starting center, the starting lineup can play a faster, more versatile, and FIBA-friendly game. Embiid could then dominate opponents' backup bigs. That would open up a path to either inserting Tatum into the starting lineup or at least giving him a chance to play more regular minutes in the rotation as a sweet-shooting option at power forward. Maybe then Kerr would get less heat from critics like Charles Barkley.
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