Team USA made yet another questionable decision involving a Boston Celtics player Sunday.
Celtics star Jayson Tatum didn't leave the bench in Team USA's 110-84 victory over Serbia in its first game of group play at the 2024 Paris Olympics despite being fully healthy. Tatum and Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton were the only two American players not to see action, while Tatum's two Celtics teammates, Jrue Holiday and Derrick White, played 24 and 16 minutes, respectively.
Tatum's absence is a head-scratcher considering the Celtics star is a three-time First-Team All-NBA selection and NBA champion who played a key role in Team USA's gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and saw plenty of run in exhibition games leading up to Paris.
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Head coach Steve Kerr said he "went to the (lineup) combinations that I felt made the most sense" and that Kevin Durant's strong play in his first game back from injury (23 points on 8 of 9 shooting) contributed to Tatum not playing.
So, will Tatum be in the rotation Wednesday for Team USA's next group play game against South Sudan?
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"Jayson will play [Wednesday]," Kerr told reporters Monday, via ESPN's Brian Windhorst. "I'm not going to answer your next question, which is if he plays, who doesn't. But we're going to need him, and part of this job for me is to keep everybody engaged and ready, because my experience with this is crazy stuff happens."
If Kerr sticks with a 10-man rotation Wednesday, two players on the 12-man roster won't play versus South Sudan. But it sounds like Tatum won't receive back-to-back DNPs and will make his 2024 Olympic debut in short order.
"The hardest part of this job is you're sitting at least a couple of guys who are world-class, some of the very best players on Earth," Kerr said. "On one hand, it makes no sense at all. On the other, I'm asking these guys to just commit to winning one game and then move on to the next one. I have to do the same thing. And so I felt like last night those were the combinations that made the most sense."
Olympic basketball games are 40 minutes long compared to 48 minutes in the NBA, making the job of Kerr and his staff that much more difficult as they determine who to play and who to sit on an All-Star-laden roster. That said, Tatum absolutely deserves to play as a well-rounded two-way wing who can score in bunches, has improved greatly as a playmaker and is an excellent defender.
Team USA vs. South Sudan is set for Wednesday, July 31 at 3 p.m. ET on the USA Network.