Here’s what Steve Kerr said about Jayson Tatum’s lack of playing time in Team USA win vs. Serbia

"It’s not about what Jayson is doing or not doing."

Jayson Tatum playing for Team USA against Brazil during the 2024 Olympics. Damien Meyer/Getty Images

August 9, 2024

2 minutes to read

Amid the United States’ dramatic comeback win in the Olympic semifinal against Serbia on Thursday, NBA champion Jayson Tatum once again remained on the bench.

Tatum, the Celtics’ 26-year-old superstar, logged zero minutes of playing time in the 95-91 win to send the Americans into Saturday’s gold medal matchup with host nation France.

The lack of playing time has been a curious theme of Tatum’s 2024 Olympic experience. He also didn’t feature in the U.S. group stage win over Serbia, and has been the 11th player off the bench in other games.

His absence has been conspicuous, drawing comments from NBA rivals as well as his mother, who weighed in on Twitter to express his displeasure with Team USA head coach Steve Kerr’s lineup choices.

Kerr, the longtime head coach of the Golden State Warriors when he isn’t leading the U.S. national team, has spoken during the Olympic run about the challenges of balancing such a talented roster.

On Friday, he reiterated to reporters that Tatum’s lack of minutes has nothing to do with the player in question, and is more a reflection of larger strategy.

“It’s not what I’m not seeing from Jayson, it’s what I’ve seen from the other guys,” Kerr explained, per Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. “Like I’ve said many times during this tournament and the last six weeks, it’s just hard to play 11 people, even in an NBA game.”

International rules differ from the NBA on a number of levels, including the length of the game. Whereas an NBA games goes for 48 minutes, Olympic basketball games last just 40 minutes.

As a result, an already finite amount of minutes to spread across the American’s constellation of superstars is spread even thinner.

Kerr also defended his bench choices, none of which included Tatum. Anthony Edwards and Derrick White (Tatum’s Boston teammate) played a combined 20 minutes off the bench, managing just two points between them (scored by Edwards).

“Our second unit was not great last night, but that group has been one of the bright spots on this team, especially on the defensive end,” Kerr noted.

“It’s not about what Jayson is doing or not doing,” he added. “It’s just about combinations and the way that group has played together, the way Kevin [Durant] has filled in since he came back from his injury. It’s just a math problem more than anything.”

The gold medal game against France tips off on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET, as Tatum hopes to get a chance to contribute in what could potentially be his second straight gold medal.