Steve Kerr fumbles with decision to bench Jayson Tatum

Steve Kerr benched Jayson Tatum on Sunday for Team USA's opening 110-84 win against Serbia at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The recently crowned NBA champion didn't see a moment of playing time as he watched on from the bench. Following the game, Tatum confirmed to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe that he was fully healthy.

When speaking to the media after the game, Kerr admitted that his decision to bench Tatum was at least partly made due to Kevin Durant's presence in the rotation.

“It’s really hard in a 40-minute game to play more than 10 guys,” Kerr said, as reported by Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe . “With Kevin coming back, I just went to the combinations that I felt made the most sense. It seems crazy. I thought I was crazy when I looked at everything and determined these are the lineups I wanted to get to. Jayson is first-team All-NBA three years in a row. He’s one of the best players in the world. I went with the combinations I felt would make sense, and I talked to him, and he was incredibly professional.”

Durant repaid Kerr's faith by having a perfect shooting night from the field. He was unquestionably the most dangerous player on the floor.

However, there were other ways to ensure he had playing time that wouldn't have taken one of the most complete players on the roster out of the rotation.

Kerr stuck with a three-guard lineup for the majority of the game. Team USA started with Steph Curry, Jrue Holiday and Devin Booker. Derrick White and Anthony Edwards were the two guards off the bench.

Tatum's ability to play at the three meant that he could have filled the role Booker or Edward occupied, even if it meant splitting minutes between the three of them.

Tatum is an Olympic gold medal winner. He knows how to win on the international stage. Kerr must find a way to incorporate the All-Star forward into his rotation. Otherwise, it will be one of the biggest blunders of his international coaching career.