The Boston Celtics had a fantastic 2023-24 NBA season as they lifted the illustrious Larry O'Brien trophy. It led to Jayson Tatum winning the first ring of his career, among other accolades.
After the phenomenal season in the books, Tatum geared up to represent Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Considering he is part of the current NBA champions, most fans expected JT to find considerable minutes on the team.
However, head coach Steve Kerr has barely utilized the 26-year-old's talents. In fact, Kerr is on the hot seat due to his seemingly unfair treatment of JT throughout the campaign.
Cousy blasts Team USA head coach Kerr
Steve has been the man behind the drawing board throughout the Golden State Warriors' multiple championship runs since 2015. It includes lifting the 2022 NBA title after defeating Tatum and the Celtics.
It was a hard-fought series between the two sides, seemingly leaving some bad blood. Keeping that in mind, Celtics legend Bob Cousy called out coach Kerr for his unfair treatment of Boston players on Team USA.
"Tatum is on the cover of Sports Illustrated this month," Cousy said , per The Boston Globe. Any experts that I've read lately have chosen him in the top five, and sometimes No. 1 in the [expletive] world. Now, Kerr is telling the world that he doesn't agree. … When Kerr did it last week, he was in no danger of losing the game, but in this case, they got down by 17 points, and he's got to worry about losing the game. And then to not let Tatum get off the bench — to me, there's got to be some kind of bias that he's got against the Celtics."
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Kerr addressed Tatum's DNP vs. Serbia
Team USA narrowly avoided an upset defeat versus Serbia in the Olympic semifinals. Heading into the fourth quarter, USAB was down 13 points. They would have missed a chance to play for the gold medal if it hadn't been for Steph Curry, LeBron James, and Joel Embiid's heroics.
Many believed coach Kerr could have subbed in JT to make a comeback sooner rather than later. However, Tatum failed to find even a single minute of playing time during the semifinals. Coach Kerr addressed his decision to keep Jayson benched throughout the game .
"So it's not about what Jayson is doing or not doing," Kerr said . "It's just about combinations and the way that group has played together, the way Kevin (Durant) has filled in since he came back from his injury. It's just a math problem more than anything."
At the end of the day, Tatum's Celtics teammates, Jrue Holiday and Derrick White, still found playing time in the rotation. Is it really a math problem, or is Kerr avoiding inserting JT in the lineup? Only time will tell.
For now, Team USA should focus on winning the gold medal during their Saturday night matchup vs. France.
Related: “Come out with a rotation and stick with it” - Draymond Green chastises Steve Kerr for benching Jayson Tatum
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