Why Jayson Tatum Didn’t Play in US’s Olympic Victory

Jayson Tatum did not play in Team USA’s opening match of the Olympic Games after appearing in all of the exhibition games. *(AP photo/Altaf Qadri)*

The US national basketball team won its first group match for the 2024 Olympics 110-84 against Serbia, but there was one notable name that did not appear on the scoreboard.

Jayson Tatum was one of the odd ones out for Team USA in Sunday’s win, sitting on the bench for the entire 40 minutes. While there was some speculation that the Celtics star was battling an ailment, that does not appear to be the case.

“No, I’m good,” Tatum said The Boston GlobeGary Washburn when asked after the game if he was sick.

That was the only comment Tatum made about his status after Sunday’s game. He declined to speak to a larger group of reporters, according to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated.

U.S. coach Stever Kerr later confirmed that it was his decision not to let Tatum play, saying Kevin Durant’s return played a role in determining his rotation for Sunday’s game.

“It’s really hard to play more than 10 players in a 40-minute game,” Kerr said. “With Kevin coming back, I just went with the combinations that made the most sense to me. It seems crazy. I thought I was crazy when I looked at everything and decided that these were the lineups I wanted to go with.

“Jayson has been first-team All-NBA three years in a row. He’s one of the best players in the world. I went with the combinations that made sense to me, and I talked to him, and he was incredibly professional.”

Kerr believes Tatum will shine at some point and complimented him on the way he handled being on the bench.

“(Tatum will) make his mark,” he said. “Our guys know the key to this whole thing is to get all the NBA stuff done and just win six games. Jayson is the ultimate pro and champion and he’s handled it well, and he’ll be ready for the next game.”

Durant had a remarkable performance in his first game with Team USA this cycle after missing all five exhibition games with a calf injury. He scored a game-high 23 points on 8 of 9 shooting from the field, making his first eight shots. He also played nearly 17 minutes, which cost him some minutes at forward.

Still, Kerr’s decision to keep Tatum out of the rotation altogether was surprising. Tatum averaged 17.8 minutes per game in the exhibition series, starting twice in the five games. He averaged 6.4 points per game and shot 46.7 percent from the field, though he didn’t make a 3-pointer.

Tatum also performed strongly for Team USA when it won the gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics. He was their second-leading scorer in the tournament, averaging 15.2 points per game and shooting 49.3 percent.

Additionally, Tatum is the only player on the U.S. roster who was named first-team All-NBA last season and is less than a month removed from leading his team to a title, so it’s unusual to see a player with his credentials sitting on the bench.

Kerr opted to go with a pair of guard-heavy lineups instead, which benefited the other two Celtics on the roster. Jrue Holiday started alongside Steph Curry and Devin Booker. Holiday had 15 points on 6 of 8 shooting from the field, adding four rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Derrick White was the lead point guard off the bench, scoring just two points on two shots, but he also had a pair of steals, a block and made notable hustle plays during his 15 minutes of action.

The US continues the group stage on Wednesday against South Sudan.

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