WASHINGTON — The U.S. men's basketball team won Sunday without playing Jayson Tatum of the NBA champion Boston Celtics in the rotation, which even coach Steve Kerr thought was crazy when he decided to do it.
"I went with the combinations that I felt like would make sense," Kerr said. "I talked to him and he's incredibly professional. And that’s tonight. It doesn’t mean it’s going to stay that way the rest of the tournament. He’ll make his mark. Our guys know this: The key to this whole thing is to put all the NBA stuff in the rear-view mirror and just win six games. Jayson's the ultimate pro, a champion, he handled it well and he'll be ready for the next one.”
Tatum, who recently agreed to the richest contract in NBA history, was part of the U.S. team that won gold at the Tokyo Games held three years ago. He averaged 15.2 points for the Americans in those Olympics, second on the team behind Kevin Durant’s 20.7 points per game.
Kerr explained to ESPN after Sunday's game that one reason Tatum didn't play was Durant was making his Summer Games debut after spending about a month dealing with a calf strain.
"Jason handled it really well," Kerr described. "I talked to him day before the game that it may play out this way, just with Kevin [Durant] coming back and the lineups that I wanted to get to. But that'll change, Jason's going to play, every game is going to be different based on matchups. He's a total pro. He's first team all-NBA three years in a row. I felt like an idiot not playing him, but in a 40-minute game you can't play more than 10, you really can't. I think he's an amazing guy, great player and handled it beautifully and he'll be back out there next game."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
