Draymond defends Tatum, slams Kerr and Team USA for benching C’s star originally appeared in NBC Sports Boston
Steve Kerr’s decision not playing against Jayson Tatum in Team USA’s first game at the 2024 Paris Olympics It was apparently so controversial that Draymond Green sides with a rival player instead of his own NBA coach.
The star of the Golden State Warriors took time out on your podcast, The Draymond Green show, on Saturday to discuss Tatum, surprisingly, not seeing the word in Team USA group stage victory over Serbia last Sunday and did not contain Kerr and the American coaching staff.
“You don’t play Jayson Tatum,” Green said. “That man just won an NBA championship, cover of NBA 2K, cover of Sports Illustrated, just signed the biggest contract in NBA history, oh and by the way, his reward is to sit and not play in the first Olympic game. “
Green, who was on Team USA at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, noted that Tatum played a key role in that group’s gold, and that many expected Tatum to take over Kevin Durant’s torch as team leader. So even though Tatum hasn’t been at his best during Team USA’s exhibition games leading up to the 2024 Olympics, Green still believes Kerr made a mistake in benching Tatum against Serbia, which had a ripple effect on their casting decisions since then.
“Not playing (Tatum) was wrong,” Green added. “We all know it was wrong. He should have played. He didn’t do that. But he should have done it. So he was wrong and we know it.
“What I don’t like about it is that now to me it feels like a ‘covering my tracks, proving a point’ kind of thing, where, oh, now Joel (Embiid) is out of the lineup (Wednesday vs. South). ).And then Jrue (Holiday) didn’t play (Saturday against Puerto Rico).
“… From the outside looking in, it looks like, ‘We made a mistake as a coaching staff.'”
Kerr admitted he “felt like an idiot” for not playing Tatum against Serbia, but added that he opted for lineup combinations that made sense, noting that players would have to make sacrifices in a squad so full of talent.
We certainly don’t expect Kerr to deploy a 12-man rotation in every game, so there could be more DNPs in the knockout rounds. Still, it’s a bit puzzling that Tatum — a versatile wing who can guard multiple positions on defense and create mismatches on offense — is the odd man out.
Tatum started the last two games for Team USA and recorded a double-double against Puerto Rico on Saturday, then your bench may be water under the bridge. But as Green correctly pointed out, Kerr put unnecessary focus on his lineup decisions by not playing Tatum of the gate.
Team USA’s next game is the quarterfinals against Brazil on Tuesday at 3 p.m. ET.
