A lot of people are upset that Jayson Tatum didn’t get any playing time with Team USA.
Add Bob Cousy to the list.
The Celtics legend and basketball Hall of Famer, now 96, recently spoke about Tatum not getting any more playing time after he missed Team USA’s Olympic semifinal win over Serbia on Thursday.
“This is not just a snub,” Cousy said in an interview with the Boston Globe on Friday. “It’s a shame for poor kids all over the (expletive) world. The Olympics are so big. Everyone’s going to think there’s something wrong with this kid.”
Tatum, despite being considered the Celtics’ best player in terms of the best team and the 2024 NBA Champions, is one of three Boston stars on Team USA – and the only one not in the regular rotation.
Starting Celtics guards Derrick White and Jrue Holiday have been mainstays in the rotation – with Holiday also starting for the Americans – while Tatum has now been DNP-CD (did not play, coach’s decision) in two of the team’s five games.
The only one who has is Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton, the second youngest player on the team.
Cousy also said he believes “people from Boston should stand up” for Tatum.
“When (coach Steve) Kerr did it last week, he wasn’t in danger of losing the game, but in this case, he’s down by 17 points, and he has to worry about losing. And then not letting Tatum off the bench — for me , there is definitely a bias going on against the Celtics.
Kerr got wind of the allegations and denied them.
“It’s not about what Jayson did or didn’t do,” Kerr said. “It’s just about the combination and the way the group plays together, the way Kevin has filled in since he came back from injury. It’s just a matter of maths more than anything.
While Tatum’s absence has caused havoc, Team USA is 5-0 and has only had one close victory since the game officially began.
And when you look at the list, there’s a way to justify Tatum’s absence.
There are 12 players on Team USA to play a 40-minute game, and because they don’t have timeouts in international games, you can still play 10-deep in your rotation – as is the case with many elite teams in the EuroLeague and Europe. in general, but occasionally, one can expand.
Often, 10 is the number you’ll use, especially in Olympic tournaments.
Of Kerr’s 10: Joel Embiid, Anthony Davis and Bam Adebayo are needed as bigs, the latter two are needed for versatile defense and – especially in the case of Davis – rebounding, when Embiid starts.
Steph Curry is Steph Curry, plus the defense why Holiday and White work as a glue man in the backcourt.
Otherwise, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Anthony Edwards are the wings that play in front of Tatum, which provides duplication on the roster compared to what everyone else does.
And, to this day, Booker or Edwards could be seen as the “odd man” for Tatum – but both are just playing better.
Booker is the sixth leading scorer on the team and is shooting 61 percent from 3-point land, tying Durant for the team lead.
Edwards was second on the team in scoring behind James while shooting 60 percent from the field and 45 percent from deep.
Tatum averaged 19.9 minutes in his three appearances, and scored just 6.3 points while shooting 39 percent from the field and 0-for-3 from deep.
PARIS 2024 Olympics
The Americans will face France for the gold medal on Saturday.
This will be the second consecutive Olympics where the USA and France face off in the final.
Team USA narrowly defeated France 87-82 for the gold in 2021.
