Steve Kerr using 12-man rotation, calls his 2024-25 Warriors ‘as deep a team as I’ve ever coached’ to the dismay of Celtics analysts

Kerr famously kept Jayson Tatum out of the lineup on two separate occasions in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Steve Kerr has been catching flak once again for his usage — or lack thereof — of Jayson Tatum during the 2024 Paris Olympics, now that the Celtics superstar looks like an early MVP candidate.

His recent comments about his rotation management of the 2024-25 Warriors probably aren’t helping matters.

On Thursday, Kerr told reporters that this year’s Warriors team was as deep of a team as he’s ever coached. That would lump them in with four NBA championship rosters, two of which contained the likes of Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, and Klay Thompson, along with powerful supporting casts. Kerr made this comparison when explaining his use of a 12-man rotation to start the season.

“I’ve never played 12 before, but we’re going to do it,” Kerr said. “I was thinking, ‘maybe we’ll just play 10, and I’ll just have to tell two of these guys that they’re going to sit’, and I couldn’t justify that.”

Whether or not Kerr was including only his NBA rosters in his assertion of the Warriors’ depth, it’s a curious decision for him to utilize a 12-man rotation in the NBA, but not with his Olympic roster comprised of the league’s best players. Kerr infamously DNP’d Tatum twice in the Olympics, arguing that he didn’t always fit into the lineup properly.

Current Celtics broadcaster and former NBA player Eddie House was among those who called Kerr’s comments into question, considering his management of Team USA this summer.

“When I hear him say that, I just can’t believe it,” House said of Kerr. “He’s coming off the Olympics. You just coached the best players from the United States of America. And you’re saying that you could go deep with that [Warriors] team?

“I’m trying to figure it out. Make it make sense, please.”

House embodied what many Celtics fans are likely feeling after Kerr’s comments. Tatum was an All-NBA first-team selection the season prior to the Olympics.

Now, in his first three games of this season, Tatum is averaging 33 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 6.0 assists per game on 54.7 percent shooting from the field and 48.6 percent shooting from three-point territory.

Tatum and the Celtics won’t have to wait long to square off against Kerr’s Warriors. Boston will host Golden State on Nov. 6 at TD Garden.