Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton watch from the bench as Team USA defeats Serbia

John Stockton averaged just 7.3 minutes per game on the original Dream Team, less than Christian Laettner (7.6). Gary Payton played 17.0 minutes per game on the ’96 Dream Team, one minute less than Penny Hardaway (18.0). Russell Westbrook, a two-time All-Star at the time, played just 13.8 minutes per night on Team USA’s gold medal-winning 2012 Olympic team, while non-time All-Star Deron Williams averaged 18.0 minutes.

The fact is, with the United States sending NBA players to the Olympics, even some of the biggest names in basketball will have to secure a seat. They may not even have to change out of their warm-ups.

Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton experienced this harsh reality after one match at the Paris Olympics.

Team USA — fueled by Kevin Durant’s blistering first-half shooting — began its bid for a fifth straight Olympic gold medal with a 110-84 win over Nikola Jokic and Serbia. Durant missed all five of the U.S.’s exhibition games with a calf injury but was cleared to play in Sunday’s tournament opener.

Coach Steve Kerr called Durant off the bench. Someone had to make room for the three-time Olympic gold medalist.

The rotation casualties ultimately turned out to be All-Star forward Jayson Tatum and All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton.

Tatum and Haliburton watched from the bench as Kerr teamed with Tatum’s Boston Celtics teammates, Jrue Holiday and Derrick White, to provide defensive solidity around America’s arsenal of dynamic scorers. That didn’t stop Tatum’s fans from taking to social media to voice their displeasure over the Celtics star being given a “DNP-CD” (Did Not Play – Coach’s Decision). The primary target of their criticism — Kerr.

These are the tough decisions Kerr and managing director Grant Hill have to make. Not everyone can get out on the field like in the practice matches, where they were still trying to figure out who was the best fit. At some point, a real rotation needs to be created to excel in the international style of play, particularly with reliable shooting from outside and tough defending.

Where Kerr and Hill can be questioned is at center. Joel Embiid has yet to find his rhythm in the starting lineup, and his lackluster, turnover-prone play has caused the U.S. to start games sluggishly. Against Serbia, Embiid had another poor start and was immediately replaced by Anthony Davis, who has arguably been the best U.S. post player.

Tatum and Haliburton won’t be on the bench for the entire tournament. Kerr will certainly call them up at some point. The Americans have already played their toughest opponent in the group stage in Serbia. Their remaining group games are against South Sudan on Wednesday and Puerto Rico on Saturday. The chance of a big win is very high.

But is that the kind of role Tatum and Haliburton had in mind when they decided to join this iteration of the Dream Team? Probably not. Jaylen Brown, whose surprising omission still comes amid a very public controversy with Hill, should probably be happy to get as much playing time as Tatum from the comfort of his own home.