Steve Kerr on benching Jayson Tatum in Olympics: We had LeBron James and Kevin Durant ahead of him
· Yahoo Sports
You’ve also coached the U.S. men’s Olympic team. Celtics fans want to know why you didn’t really play Jayson Tatum, one of the league’s superstars, in the 2024 Olympics. You said that it was a “math problem.” What did you mean? We had LeBron James and Kevin Durant ahead of him. Both guys had incredible F.I.B.A. experience. They’re two of the greatest players of all time. Jayson happened to be playing the same position as them. If I had just said, “I'm going to play the best five guys” or whatever, then, yeah, Jayson’s probably out there. But you’re trying to put together a team. And so, ironically, the guys I played ahead of him were also Boston Celtics: Derrick White and Jrue Holiday. We needed guys who were on-ball defenders, facilitators, who would make Steph and LeBron and Kevin better. Jayson wasn’t really suited for that role as well as those other guys. And that’s the whole point of U.S.A. Basketball: take twelve of the best players on earth and try to make it work.
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This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: Steve Kerr on benching Jayson Tatum in Olympics: We had LeBron James and Kevin Durant ahead of him