Former Duke basketball star Jayson Tatum didn’t play in Team USA’s Sunday victory over Serbia, a surprising scratch for the newly crowned NBA champion.
The Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn reported after the game that Tatum was available for the United States and not sitting out for injury-related reasons. In two separate posts to X (the social media platform formerly known as Twitter), Washburn said Tatum denied that he was sick and that Team USA coach Steve Kerr confirmed it was a coach’s decision.
“I went with the combinations that made sense,” Kerr told Washburn. “That was for tonight. He handled it well. He’ll make his mark.”
Tatum started in an exhibition game against Serbia earlier this month. Two of his Boston Celtics teammates, Jrue Holiday and Derrick White, both played for the American team during the 110-84 victory.
Team USA plays its second game on the Olympic schedule against South Sudan on Wednesday.
Kerr admits Tatum was a straight up DNP-CD. “I went with the combinations that made sense. That was for tonight. He handled it well. He’ll make his mark.” #Celtics #Paris2024
— gary washburn (@GwashburnGlobe) July 28, 2024
Should Tatum make his way onto the court against South Sudan, it’ll be a battle of Blue Devils. Incoming freshman [autotag]Khaman Maluach[/autotag] plays for the South Sudan team, and he scored two points for his country during its first-ever Olympic win on Sunday.