USA Basketball coach Steve Kerr made a controversial decision with his rotation during the team’s first game at the Paris Olympics. The team took on a Serbia, and while Kerr played 10 members of his 12-man roster, Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton did not get on the floor in the 110-84 win.
Tatum, in particular, was a surprising omission, as the Boston Celtics star has established himself as one of the best players in the world and can fit into just about any team context. Kerr expressed some regret over the decision, but considering the Americans won and Tatum made it back into the starting five for the team’s win over South Sudan, it was largely water under the bridge.
Still, we had not heard from Tatum about all of this, but after the South Sudan game, he opened up about the situation and called it a “humbling experience.” Via BasketNews:
“It’s a unique situation, and it’s not about one individual player, competitor in you wants to play obviously, but I’m not here to make a story about myself,” Tatum said after the win against South Sudan. “You win a championship, new contract, NBA 2K25 cover, Sports Illustrated… so after all of this, it’s definitely a humbling experience.”
“We won; I was just glad to get back out there and play again, as there was a lot of chatter over the last few days,” Tatum added.
At the very least, it seemed like Kerr learned from how this experiences blew up. After Joel Embiid got a DNP-CD against South Sudan, Kerr told the media that the decision was entirely based on the matchup, and that Embiid would start the team’s group finale against Puerto Rico.