During Team USA’s first game of the 2024 Paris Olympics against Serbia, head coach Steve Kerr and his coaching staff chose to keep Boston Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum on the bench.
That decision caused quite a stir, with the current face of the Celtics recently leading Boston to a record 18th NBA title while playing alongside Olympic teammates Jrue Holiday and Derrick White.
Although many were highly critical of Kerr’s decision to bench Tatum, the Americans were able to defeat Serbia with relative ease and move closer to their ultimate goal of winning a gold medal.
In the second game against South Sudan, Kerr chose to put Tatum in the starting lineup along with Anthony Davis and parked Joel Embiid on the bench.
Apparently, change could become a common theme, with Kerr already letting it be known that he’ll be putting Embiid back in the starting lineup against Puerto Rico while also adding Holiday, according to Ben Golliver of The Washington Post.
Steve Kerr said he Joel Embiid received DNP-CD against South Sudan because USA wanted to better match up with their team speed.
– Kerr will start LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Devin Booker, Jrue Holiday and Embiid versus Puerto Rico on Friday.— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) July 31, 2024
With Tatum coming off a very long season for the Celtics, it isn’t all that surprising that he’d be given some extra rest, and the same could be said for Embiid, who has had issues with injuries over the years, much like Davis has.
Kerr surely wants to keep everyone happy while giving ample rest to players he doesn’t want to overwork, which makes sense, especially if Team USA continues to dominate its opponents.
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