Controversy has unfolded during Team USA’s opening contest at the Paris Olympics.
On Monday morning (AEST) they launched into the defence of their Olympic crown with a 110-84 win over Serbia.
And while Kevin Durant was a big talking point after returning from injury to drop a game-high 23 points, it was another member of the squad who was the talk of the basketball world.
Boston superstar Jayson Tatum sent social media into a spin after playing a grand total of zero minutes in the opener.
The recently crowned NBA champ had to sit and watch as his fellow Celtics teammates Derrick White and Jrue Holiday contributed to the win.
Tatum was one of two players who weren’t called upon with Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton also left on the bench.
The exclusion of Tatum comes after he was heavily featured in the matches prior to the Games commencing.
While it’s only one game, the decision to not give Tatum a single second of court time raised eyebrows on social media from countless American basketball fans who’d just witnessed Tatum dominate the NBA season.
NBA great Isaiah Thomas wrote on X: “Is Tatum hurt?”
Barstool Sports’ Dan Greenberg wrote: “Does Steve Kerr know he has Jayson Tatum on his team?”
An irate Celtics fan added: “Steve Kerr has so many bad decisions this game I don’t even know which focus on at half time. Obviously the Jayson Tatum stuff is moronic and his biggest mistake, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg with this idiot.”
Of course not everyone was angry over coach Steve Kerr’s call with fans having a field day roasting the Celtics star.
Kerr spoke after the game and detailed the reasoning behind the move to leave Tatum out of the rotation.
“I went with the combinations that made sense. That was for tonight. He handled it well. He’ll make his mark,” Kerr said.
Kerr added to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst: “It’s tough but Jayson handled it really well. I talked to him today before the game that it may play out this way just with Kevin coming back and the line-ups that I wanted to get to but that’ll change.
“Jayson’s gonna play, every game’s gonna be different based on match-ups. He’s a total pro — he’s First Team All-NBA three years in a row. I felt like an idiot not playing him, but in a 40-minute game, you can’t play more than 10. You really can’t.”
As speculation ran rife throughout and even after the match surrounding Tatum, the scary point missed in it all is just how terrifying this Team USA squad is.
Two All-Star level players couldn’t even crack the rotation in a contest where they comfortably took care of three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic.
With group games to come against South Sudan and Puerto Rico, Kerr can work on solidifying his rotations.
Of the 10 players who graced the court on Monday for Team USA, Joel Embiid logged the least amount of minutes with 11.
LeBron James once again led the way with 27 minutes in which he delivered 21 points, 7 rebounds and 9 assists.
Team USA will be back in action on Thursday at 5am (AEST) when they take on South Sudan before they close out their group stage against Puerto Rico on Sunday at 1:15am (AEST).
Source Agencies
