Boston Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum didn’t see the court for the second time during this Olympic run. Once again, it was against Serbia that Tatum was issued his second DNPCD by Team USA head coach Steve Kerr.
The commonality between Tatum’s benching is Serbia, Nikola Jokic, and Joel Embiid, as Kerr is trying to mirror Embiid to Jokic. It seems like a matchup decision more than anything, but on the other hand, it doesn’t make much sense to not play Tatum.
Tatum is the only player on Team USA who has made First Team All-NBA for three consecutive seasons, led the Celtics across the board to the Finals, and signed the largest contract in NBA history before joining Team USA this summer.
This benching led to Tatum’s mother, Brandy Cole, to Twitter to inform the world that her son isn’t injured and it doesn’t make sense to her that he’s not playing.
Tatum’s mother, along with many NBA players across the league, and their fanbases, are genuinely confused as to why Kerr is choosing not to play Tatum. I took to Twitter to say that Kerr has no intentions of playing Tatum with a healthy Kevin Durant, which caught a lot of traction around the NBA world.
The decision to sit Tatum adds to the theory of Jaylen Brown being snubbed from Team USA and the vendetta Kerr might have against the Celtics. It’s hard to justify considering Derrick White and Jrue Holiday are playing a lot but it still doesn’t make sense why Tatum isn’t.
Tatum is arguably the best switching wing defender on the roster, which Team USA has needed throughout this run. It’s fair to assume that if he can’t get run over Kevin Durant, then perhaps he could get some of the minutes for Devin Booker and Anthony Davis, who aren’t as great of two-way players as Tatum.
Here’s other news, notes, and takeaways from the Celtics this week:
- Jaylen Brown and Grant Hill have gone back-and-forth all summer as to why he’s not on Team USA and the politics that are involved with Nike. Hill recently said that Brown will be invited to join Team USA in 2028 if he wants.
- Kristaps Porzingis was back in the gym on the rowing machine.
- Payton Pritchard believes the Celtics could win gold in the Olympics.
- Guerschon Yabusele told The Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn to tell the Celtics to bring him back.
- Brad Stevens told The Boston’s Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach that he will not be involved in any part of the selling of the team, including the bidding process. He wants no part of it.
- Svi Mykhailiuk signed with the Utah Jazz as a free agent.
- John Henry and Fenway Sports Group could be a legitimate candidate to become new owners of the Celtics.
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