The United States got the Olympics off to a good start with a blowout victory over Serbia. However, the win came with a bit of weird twist, as Jayson Tatum didn’t play in the game for Team USA.
Following the game, United States head coach Steve Kerr said that with Kevin Durant back in the fold, he couldn’t get everyone into the game.
“It’s tough, but Jayson handled it really well. I talked to him today before the game, that it may play out this way just with Kevin coming back, and the lineups I wanted to get to,” Kerr said.
The USA coach then explained he feels like he can’t play more than 10 players due to FIBA games being only 40 minutes. That seemed to be Kerr’s other reason for leaving Tatum on the bench.
“I felt like an idiot not playing him, but in a 40-minute game, you can’t play more than 10,” Kerr said about the DNP for Tatum. “He’s an amazing guy, great player and handled it beautifully. He’ll be out there next game.”
