Jayson Tatum’s latest Olympic benching, which occurred during Team USA’s 95-91 nail-biting win over Serbia in the semifinals, sparked outsider outrage toward head coach Steve Kerr — and rightfully so.
From Boston Celtics legend Bob Cousy to Tatum’s mother, Brandy Cole, nearly everyone who tuned in and watched the United States battle back from a 17-point deficit had the same reaction: Why did Kerr refuse to play Tatum? In the third quarter, Team USA’s defense collapsed against Nikola Jokić and the Serbian squad while Kerr kept Tatum seated instead of giving the NBA’s highest-paid player ($313 million) a chance to shine.
This even caught the attention of Tatum’s former Celtics teammate Jeff Teague.
“If you’re a Boston Celtics fan, you should be thanking USA Basketball,” Teague said on the “Club 520 Podcast.” “Because now y’all got another championship on the way.”
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Tatum battled through the outside scrutiny of being shamed for his scoring output and not winning MVP honors in the Eastern Conference finals or NBA Finals, resulting in Boston seizing its 18th title. That alone should earn Tatum the respect to receive consistent minutes for Team USA, even if it’s off the bench. Tatum can score, rebound, defend and facilitate, and it’s especially questionable watching the 26-year-old play benchwarmer during the Olympics when Kerr’s coaching nearly backfired. Although the United States is stacked with talent from top to bottom, the team hasn’t consistently performed up to par, making the gold medal game against France a must-win.
“(Tatum probably is like) ‘I’m First Team All-NBA, bro, and I’m sitting the bench. I just won a chip, First Team All-NBA, I’m having the best year of my life. Then I go to the Olympics, bro, and y’all telling me I’m the weakest one on the team,'” Teague said. “… He’s gonna be on a mission, bro. Y’all know I got the inside scoop, he gonna be on a mission.”
Whether or not Tatum plays in the winner-take-all matchup, the five-time All-Star will earn plenty of minutes in a Celtics uniform once the regular season begins in October.
