The US received the Olympics off to a very good begin with a blowout victory over Serbia. Nonetheless, the win got here with a little bit of bizarre twist, as Jayson Tatum did not play within the recreation for Group USA.
Following the sport, United States head coach Steve Kerr mentioned that with Kevin Durant again within the fold, he could not get everybody into the sport.
“It is powerful, however Jayson dealt with it rather well. I talked to him immediately earlier than the sport, that it could play out this fashion simply with Kevin coming again, and the lineups I needed to get to,” Kerr mentioned.
The USA coach then defined he seems like he cannot play greater than 10 gamers because of FIBA video games being solely 40 minutes. That appeared to be Kerr’s different purpose for leaving Tatum on the bench.
“I felt like an fool not taking part in him, however in a 40-minute recreation, you possibly can’t play greater than 10,” Kerr mentioned concerning the DNP for Tatum. “He is an incredible man, nice participant and dealt with it superbly. He’ll be on the market subsequent recreation.”
