Team USA head coach Steve Kerr made an interesting decision in their opening game of the Olympics against Serbia on Sunday, as Jayson Tatum did not play a single minute. There was a lot of speculation on why Kerr chose to do that and author Shea Serrano put out a wild conspiracy theory.
“Steve Kerr choosing to bring Derrick White on the Olympic team instead of Jaylen Brown and then making sure to only play Derrick White and not Jayson Tatum so as to sow unrest on the Celtics is some Phil Jackson level of mind games lol.”
steve kerr choosing to bring derrick white on the olympic team instead of jaylen brown and then making sure to only play derrick white and not jayson tatum so as to sow unrest on the celtics is some phil jackson level of mind games lol
— Shea Serrano (@SheaSerrano) July 28, 2024
That was mostly in jest from Serrano, but his post went viral on X. Kerr’s mentor Phil Jackson might have tried to do something along these lines, but I don’t think he is doing anything of that sort here.
For starters, USA Basketball Men’s National Team managing director Grant Hill is the one who picks the team and it then has to be approved by the USA Basketball Board of Directors. Kerr might have given some input, but he didn’t have the final say on the matter. It is somewhat hilarious, though, how all these decisions can be viewed as an attempt to cause unrest in the Boston Celtics, who were just crowned NBA champions.
Derrick White and not Jaylen Brown, who won Finals MVP, making the team after Kawhi Leonard’s withdrawal, raised plenty of eyebrows. Brown himself had a cryptic reaction after White was announced as Leonard’s replacement on Team USA. Some wondered if it might cause some cracks to develop in the relationship between the two teammates.
Brown made it clear, though, that he had no beef with White after the Team USA snub. He added he also called the guard to ensure he knew it was still all love from his side. There is someone who is part of USA Basketball that Brown seems to have a problem with, Hill.
Recently, Hill revealed that Brown not being picked was purely a basketball decision. He claimed there were no other factors in play and added that all the conspiracy theories were baseless. Brown hit back at Hill for calling him a conspiracy theorist and these two probably need to have a sitdown at some point to clear the air.
As for Tatum not playing against Serbia and White getting nearly 16 minutes of game time, they don’t play the same position and have different roles as well. There really is no conspiracy in play here, although I do think Tatum should have been given at least some time on the court.
Steve Kerr Spoke On Jayson Tatum Not Playing Against Serbia
While the rest of the world was caught off guard by Tatum not playing at all in the 110-84 win over Serbia, it would appear that the man himself wouldn’t have been. After the game, Kerr spoke about not giving Tatum any minutes.
“It’s tough but Jayson [Tatum] handled it well. I talked to him today before the game, that it may play out this way just with Kevin [Durant] coming back and the lineups I wanted to get to. But that will change, Jayson is going to play.”
“Every game is going to be different, based on match-ups, he’s a total pro, 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. I think he’s an amazing guy, a great player, and handled it beautifully, and he’ll be back out there next game.”
Tatum averaged 26.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game last season for the Celtics and is undoubtedly one of the better players on that roster. It is why his not playing even a minute was so surprising. Kerr stated that won’t be the case against South Sudan in the next game and it will be interesting to see how many minutes the 26-year-old gets.
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