Quit whining about Jayson Tatum not playing enough on Team USA and appreciate what we're watching

Welcome to Layup Lines, For the Win’s basketball newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Have feedback for the Layup Lines Crew? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey. Now, here’s Mike Sykes

Happy Friday, folks! Welcome back to Layup Lines. Thanks so much for joining me today. I hope you’ve had an excellent week and are heading into a weekend that’ll be just as good.

Surely, you watched Team USA go down to the wire with Serbia on Thursday. That game was incredible, man. It was rough at times, obviously, with the U.S. down by as many as 15 points in the end of the third quarter.

But, at its best, we witnessed the three names that have defined basketball over the last 20 years take over the game and put it away.

Steph Curry. LeBron James. Kevin Durant. They did the thing, man. It meant something to me. It meant something to them, too. What an incredibly beautiful moment for the sport and also, more specifically, American basketball.

Yet, just a little over 24 hours after this big, momentous win with Team USA just one game away from yet another gold medal, all anyone seems to be talking about today is how Jayson Tatum didn’t play.

Fans are complaining. Jamal Crawford is complaining. Bob Cousy is complaining. Even Jayson Tatum’s mom is complaining. At this point, people are demanding answers on why Tatum isn’t playing.

Honestly, this needs to stop. We’re making this into a bigger talking point than it needs to be.

Look, I get it. Tatum is an All-NBA player and just won his very first NBA Championship. There’s no doubt he’s one of the best players in the league.

But come on, man. What are we talking about here?

Steve Kerr has explained it. There are a lot of good players on this team. Some combinations work well. Some don’t. He’s found some combinations that work and is sticking with them. It’s not his fault. Kerr, specifically, called it a “math problem” and not necessarily about anything Tatum is or isn’t doing.

As our Bryan Kalbrosky wrote before, Kerr shouldn’t feel obligated to play Tatum. He wasn’t productive in the lead-up to the Games and has struggled to find his rhythm. Not playing certainly doesn’t help him find it, but the team also doesn’t necessarily have the luxury of waiting around for him to snap out of whatever slump he’s been in.

But, putting all of that aside for a second, just think about where things are. Team USA is one win away from a gold medal despite Tatum getting DNPs during these Olympics. And we’re watching Stephen Curry, LeBron James and Kevin Durant play serious basketball together for the first and, likely, last time.

Instead of complaining about who isn’t, we should probably just enjoy the moment. That’s my take, anyway.

Merry Christmas, gang!

Shams Charania spoiled the NBA Christmas Day schedule on Thursday night. The slate is pretty awesome.

Here it is from our Cory Woodroof

• The San Antonio Spurs taking on the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
• The Minnesota Timberwolves battling the Dallas Mavericks for a Western Conference Finals rematch.
• The Philadelphia 76ers making the trip up to Boston to face the title-defending Celtics.
• The Los Angeles Lakers will take on the Golden State Warriors in Oakland.
• The Denver Nuggets will travel to Phoenix to take on the Suns.

The snubs: There are some pretty notable teams left off the list here.

• The Oklahoma City Thunder profile as one of the best teams in the NBA next season and were the West’s No. 1 overall seed.
• The Milwaukee Bucks Giannis Antetkounmpo. That’s all that needs to be said.
• The Indiana Pacers were an Eastern Conference Finalist last year and have one of the most fun players in the league in Tyrese Haliburton.

Regardless of those missing names, though, that’s a pretty good and entertaining schedule. Hopefully, the games are as good as the names are on paper.

Shootaround

— Kevin Durant roasting fans is a tale as old as time itself. Bryan Kalbrosky has more here.

— Draymond Green and Steve Kerr are going to need to have a chat after these Olympics. Here’s Robert Zeglinski with more.

— ROUNDBALL ROCK IS BACK! Here’s Charles Curtis with more.

—This quote from Victor Wembanyama is so sick. Team USA better be on their toes.

That’s a wrap, folks! Have a fantastic weekend. Peace.

-Sykes ✌️