Former NBA All-Star Kenyon Martin called out Steve Kerr for not playing Jayson Tatum as part of Team USA. Speaking on ‘Gil’s Arena Show’ with Gilbert Arenas, Martin slammed Kerr for not playing Tatum, a perennial All-NBA player, and asked if this would be the case in Golden State. He then said that Kerr could have easily played Tatum over Derrick White if he wanted to.
“Steve, let me ask you a question. If Jayson Tatum was on your roster (in Golden State), would there ever be a situation where he had a DNP? So what the f**k makes you start now? This man is first-team All-NBA three years in a row. You mean to tell me all of a sudden – I don’t give a f**k what gameplan you put together.”
“At any particular time, it didn’t include Jayson Tatum. Anybody in the room, when y’all was coming up with this sh*t, did you announce that Jayson Tatum might not play? They should have had him f**king admitted to the f**king psych ward…”
“Are you f**king with this man? This man comes over and spends time away from his family to not f**king play? You made a conscious decision not to play him [because you put Derrick White in over him]. You could have easily said that sh*t.”
"[Steve Kerr], if Jayson Tatum was on your roster, would there ever be a situation where he had a DNP? So what the f*ck makes you start now?… You made a conscious decision not to play him [because you put Derrick White in over him].”
— Kenyon Martin 😳pic.twitter.com/IwjOMVp9Ii
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 7, 2024
Jayson Tatum didn’t feature at all in Team USA’s opener against Serbia. He even called the experience humbling, as he had gone from winning an NBA championship just a month before, to not featuring for Team USA in any capacity in their first Olympics game.
Steve Kerr also showed remorse for not playing Tatum after the opener, claiming that he felt like an idiot for keeping him on the bench. Tatum got to start the next two games against South Sudan and Puerto Rico and came off the bench to play big minutes against Brazil in the quarter-final.
For his part, Tatum has played okay but hasn’t gotten the ball in his hands much, averaging just 6.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.0 blocks, and 1.5 steals per game.
Tatum’s DNP Has Become An Overblown Issue
Kenyon Martin is far from the first person to weigh in on this matter, as other people like Stephen A. Smith and Charles Barkley have also criticized Steve Kerr for not playing Jayson Tatum. And in all honesty, the issue has been blown way out of proportion by the media and aggregators.
Tatum had one DNP in this tournament and has played big minutes in every game since then. Steve Kerr as a head coach has earned the right to have his decisions not be scrutinized to such an extent, especially when it isn’t interfering with Team USA playing winning basketball.
And there is no prejudice or agenda toward Tatum, as Kerr showed that he can bench other players on the team, like Joel Embiid. For his part, Tatum hasn’t said one negative word about his DNP in the Olympics opener. And considering the consummate professional and team player that Tatum is, it is unlikely that he will share any frustration about it going forward.
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