Team USA picked up a resounding win in its Olympic opener against Serbia, but Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum was absent from the lineup, joining Tyrese Haliburton as the only two players not to see the floor on Sunday.
Tatum shared that he is not dealing with a sickness, making his absence from the lineup extremely interesting.
Just asked Jayson Tatum if he was sick, he told me, “No, I’m good.” #Celtics #Paris2024
— gary washburn (@GwashburnGlobe) July 28, 2024
Team USA head coach Steve Kerr shared his reasoning for keeping Tatum out of the rotation.
Kerr admits Tatum was a straight up DNP-CD. “I went with the combinations that made sense. That was for tonight. He handled it well. He’ll make his mark.” #Celtics #Paris2024
— gary washburn (@GwashburnGlobe) July 28, 2024
It seems like Kerr has plans for Tatum to play in the future during the Olympics, but it is interesting that he sat out this game after playing a role in Team USA’s exhibition matchups ahead of the Olympics.
One reason for Tatum falling out of the rotation could have been the return of star Kevin Durant, who had previously been sidelined by a calf injury.
Durant was cleared to play on Sunday and responded in a big way, coming off the bench to score 23 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the field (5-for-5 from 3-point range) in just under 17 minutes of action.
Kerr went with a starting lineup of Stephen Curry, Jrue Holiday, Devin Booker, LeBron James and Joel Embiid, but Embiid played sparingly for Team USA. The former NBA MVP logged just over 11 minutes in the win – the fewest of any player that got into the game.
A reason for that may have been Team USA’s struggles when the center was on the floor. Embiid posted a plus/minus of minus-8, a shocking number since Team USA won the game by 26 points.
Tatum’s exclusion from the rotation is interesting since he played such a big role for Team USA in the last Olympics in Tokyo. Tatum appeared in six games and averaged 20.5 minutes, 15.2 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.2 assists per game.
Team USA has a few days off before it returns to action on July 31 against South Sudan, a team it also faced in exhibitions back on July 20. South Sudan made things tough on the Americans, nearly pulling off a monumental upset in what was a 101-100 finish.
In that exhibition game, Tatum played double-digit minutes off the bench and finished with nine points.
