The U.S. men’s basketball team began its gold medal defense on Sunday with a 110-84 win over Serbia and three-time champion Nikola Jokic. The game played out as expected: the U.S. started slow but quickly got going and dominated. Kevin Durant dominated in his Paris Olympic debut, and LeBron James reminded everyone that at age 39, he’s still the best player on the U.S. team.
But there was one big surprise in the game: Jayson Tatum saw zero playing time. The Boston Celtics superstar didn’t even get a second on the court in the final minutes of the big win. That’s shocking considering Tatum was coming off the best season of his career, winning his first NBA title and playing a pretty big role in Team USA’s gold medal win in Tokyo three years ago.
The basketball world was shocked by head coach Steve Kerr’s decision to bench Tatum, and took to social media to express their shock.
Is Tatum injured?
— Isaiah Thomas (@isaiahthomas) July 28, 2024
KD apparently took the minutes.
— csb (@itsCSB__) July 28, 2024
Isaiah Thomas is asking the right questions lol https://t.co/PumweMB6AX
— Noah Dalzell 🏀 (@NoaDalzellNBA) July 28, 2024
Steve Kerr selecting Derrick White over Jaylen Brown for his Olympic team and then making sure they only play Derrick White over Jayson Tatum to upset the Celtics was Phil Jackson level mind games lol
— Shea Serrano (@SheaSerrano) July 28, 2024
Steve Kerr hasn’t faced Jayson Tatum yet… pic.twitter.com/nPZhqKlfto
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) July 28, 2024
Tatum should have definitely played, but…
KD really didn’t make any mistakes (laughs).
— Sonics Muse (@SonicsMuse) July 28, 2024
???? https://t.co/QcuoFbys7G
— Jd Davison (@jddavison10) July 28, 2024
Tatum could score 60 points when Celts face Warriors for the first time
—Dan Greenberg (@StoolGreenie) July 28, 2024
There were many theories about why Coach Kerr benched Tatum, but the most popular one was that the star forward was also sick because Joel Embiid and Anthony Davis were both sick before Sunday’s game. However, Tatum said after the game that he felt fine. In other words, Coach Kerr probably just thought the team had a better chance today without Tatum.
It’s a bit of an odd decision after watching Tatum lead the Celtics in points, rebounds and assists while playing every position on the court over two grueling months of playoff basketball, but Team USA won handily, so there’s not much room for doubt.
