Jayson Tatum has been one of the most talked-about players on the vaunted Team USA men's basketball roster at the Summer Olympics. However, it has not been for any positive reasons. Instead, Tatum never left the bench during the Americans' first game vs. Serbia, a decision by head coach Steve Kerr that has drawn criticism, including from Stephen A. Smith.
While Kerr initially defended not playing Tatum against Serbia by saying Tatum was simply the odd man out in the rotation as he and his coaching staff game-planned for Nikola Jokic and a talented Serbian team, he later said that he “felt like an idiot” for leaving Tatum on the bench for all 40 minutes.
To say many felt the same way would probably be an understatement, but Smith on ESPN's “First Take” went a step further and said that Kerr is “full of it” and creating “problems” with how he has constructed his rotation.
“Jayson Tatum ain't even 28,” Smith said. “The man has been to five conference finals, two NBA Finals, first-team All-NBA the last three years, and in the process, swept KD (Kevin Durant) one of them years — OK, let's keep that in mind — and is the reigning, defending NBA champion… And before you even go out for warmups, you're letting him know, ‘We got 10 players we gonna play before you.' ‘We might not get you.' You have any idea how insulting that is?”
Jayson Tatum's bizarre Olympics minutes
As Stephen A. Smith illustrated, Jayson Tatum is one of the best players in the NBA. While he has yet to become one of the very top MVP candidates perennially like Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, Luka Doncic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo, he has been the best player — or one of the best, depending on how highly you rate his Boston Celtics teammate Jaylen Brown — on one of the best teams in the league over the past four years.
As such, Tatum's role on Team USA, despite how talented the roster is, was expected to be a relatively large one. While some believed that he may not start for the Americans, he was, at worst, anticipated to be one of the first players off of the bench for Steve Kerr's team.
Against Serbia, though, he and Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton never checked into the game. Initial speculation was that Tatum was sick and was being held out for that reason, but it turns out that Tatum, known for being versatile and rather unselfish with the ball, simply couldn't crack the 10-man rotation.
After not even playing against Serbia, Tatum was inserted into the starting lineup against South Sudan, a team that nearly upset the U.S. during one of the Americans' exhibition games. Tatum played 17 minutes, during which he scored four points as the U.S. won in a much cleaner and easier fashion.
Following the game, Kerr spoke to the media and discussed Tatum, as well as Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid, who started against Serbia but did not play at all against South Sudan.
“The beauty of the Olympics is none of that crap matters,” Kerr said. “And I know everyone's going to write about it, but none of that crap matters. We're just trying to win every game and win a gold medal, and it's an incredibly pure feeling — and the guys are committed to each other, and they're not going to worry about any of that.”
Kerr said that Embiid and Tatum's Celtics teammate Jrue Holiday would start in Team USA's final group play game against Puerto Rico tomorrow. The Americans have already clinched a spot in the quarterfinals, which will begin on Tuesday.
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