"There's gonna be other games where other star players aren't gonna fit" - Windhorst explains that Tatum's benching was part of Team USA's gameplan

As impressive as Team USA's 110-84 win over Serbia in their opening game in the 2024 Paris Olympics was, it wasn't as talked about as much as the benching of five-time NBA All-Star and Boston Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum .

The 6-foot-8 wingman, who recently led the Celtics to the NBA title and was named to the First Team All-NBA team last season, got glued to the bench and, together with Indiana Pacers ace Tyrese Haliburton, were the only two players not to play a single second against Serbia.

Although Tatum was healthy and ready to go, Team USA head coach Steve Kerr said he went with the lineup combinations that made the most sense —a sentiment that ESPN reporter and insider Brian Windhorst recently expounded on.

Counter Serbia's strengths

According to Windhorst, who is in Paris to cover every step of USA Basketball's campaign for another Olympic gold medal, the notion of Tatum not getting playing time may be unheard of in NBA circles. Still, with the U.S. men's national basketball team trotting out a roster filled with superstars and All-Stars, it's a different story.

Windy explained that Kerr went with the lineup that he did to counter Serbia's size—the team, after all, had three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic—and their crafty guards led by Atlanta Hawks wingman Bogdan Bogdanovic.

"Here's what Steve Kerr's thinking was: Serbia is a team that has very strong big men, led by Nikola Jokic, a three-time MVP, and they've got very good guards. They weren't as deep on the wings. So, Team USA's game plan was to play three centers—obviously the starter Joel Embiid, Bam Adebayo, and Anthony Davis—and then play three guys who could guard point guards, which would be Anthony Edwards, Derrick White, and the starter Jrue Holiday," Windhorst shared on "NBA Today."

"With Kevin Durant coming back, it just squeezed the playing time for the wings, and they made the evaluation that in a 10-man rotation in a 40-minute game, Tatum didn't fit," the veteran journalist continued.

The game plan worked

Despite the unusual move of not playing one of the NBA's best players in a one-sided match, Kerr's strategy was a resounding success. After a shaky start where Serbia led 10-2, the Americans regrouped, seized control of the game, and never looked back.

Although Jokic was his usual brilliant self with 20 points, five rebounds, eight assists, and four steals, he didn't get much help from his supporting cast. On the other hand, Team USA had six players score in double-figures, led by Kevin Durant, who scored 23 points on 8-for-9 shooting.

"This game plan worked. Everybody that they used in the game actually played extremely well. Maybe the exception was Joel Embiid, but he was being used against Jokic—that's not Tatum's position. If you were going to squeeze Tatum in, it probably would have been instead of Derrick White. Derrick White was plus-15 in this game, with two steals and a block in his minutes on the court. It worked," Windy emphasized.

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Not everyone will get to play

Brian added that Tatum and Haliburton's benchings were simply a result of Team USA's depth and not indicative of their overall talent. It also won't be the last time this happens in this Olympics. Not everyone will get to play significant minutes with a roster loaded with superstars and FIBA games only being 40 minutes long.

"This was just game one. There are going to be other games where other star players are not going to fit," Windhorst reported.

Tatum and Team USA know sacrifice is crucial for their fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal. Despite not getting any playing time, the former Duke ace actively supported and cheered his teammates during their victory over Serbia. While JT and others will have moments to shine in the tournament, the current focus is on the collective effort towards a shared goal.

Related: Stephen A. Smith rips Steve Kerr for treating Jayson Tatum as 'waterboy' in USA's win over Serbia: "That's some straight bulls**t"