Steve Kerr has confirmed Jayson Tatum will play for Team USA against South Sudan. The Boston Celtics star had been benched against Serbia during the opening game of Team USA’s 2024 Paris Olympics tenure. Kerr received significant criticism for his decision despite his roster handily overcoming Nikola Jokic’s team.
When speaking to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst during a post-game news conference on Sunday, July 28, Kerr confirmed that Tatum would be part of his rotation to face South Sudan on Wednesday, July 31. However, Kerr refused to discuss which player would fall out of the rotation to make way for the St. Louis native.
“Jayson will play,” Kerr said. “I’m not going to answer your next question, which is if he plays, who doesn’t,” Kerr said. “But we’re going to need him, and part of this job for me is to keep everybody engaged and ready, because my experience with this is crazy stuff happens.”
Kerr’s plan against Serbia made sense. He moved away from a wing-heavy rotation to give Team USA more options at center so they could throw an additional body at Jokic throughout the game. Sudan, on the other hand, will require more wing play, and that’s where Tatum should thrive.
Nevertheless, as a top-10 player in the world, Tatum should not be glued to the bench in any situation. Celtics fans will hope they don’t see a repeat of Kerr’s decision against Serbia moving forward.
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