USA Basketball cruised to blowout win over Serbia in their pool play opener of men’s basketball on Sunday but there was one surprising absence in the win: Celtics star Jayson Tatum.
The NBA champion had been an integral part of Team USA’s gold medal run in 2021 and saw regular minutes during the team’s exhibition games over the last month including multiple starts. However, Tatum was one of two DNP-CDs in USA’s Group C opener, riding the bench alongside Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton in a 110-84 victory and he told Gary Washburn he was healthy after the win.
Team USA coach Steve Kerr explained his controversial choice to sit Tatum on a loaded USA squad after the victory, acknowledging that he spoke to Tatum about his plans beforehand.
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“It’s really hard in a 40-minute game to play more than 10 guys,” Kerr told reporters in Paris. “With Kevin coming back, I just went to the combinations that I felt made the most sense. It seems crazy. I thought I was crazy when I looked at everything and determined these are the lineups I wanted to get to. Jayson is first-team All-NBA three years in a row. He’s one of the best players in the world. I went with the combinations I felt would make sense, and I talked to him, and he was incredibly professional.”
Team USA has two days off before returning to action in pool play on Wednesday against South Sudan but Kerr hinted that Tatum’s absence from the rotation Sunday may only be temporary.
“(Tatum will) make his mark,” Kerr told reporters. “Our guys know the key to this whole thing is to put all the NBA stuff in the rearview mirror and just win six games. Jayson is the ultimate pro and champion and he handled it well, and he’s going to be ready for the next game.”
Tatum and USA will face off against 1-0 South Sudan at 3 p.m. Wednesday.
