Mastodon
@National Basketball Association

[Vardon] Tatum ‘will play’ for Team USA vs. South Sudan after Sunday benching, Kerr says



[Vardon] Tatum ‘will play’ for Team USA vs. South Sudan after Sunday benching, Kerr says

by Proof-Umpire-7718

41 Comments

  1. iRockaflame

    With Kerr that could mean anything lol

    But also all this drama around whose playing or not who cares if the team is blowing other teams out like they just did against Serbia does it matter? The end game is gold.

  2. Threeballer97

    Read “will pay” for a sec and laughed pretty hard.

  3. Ok_Acanthaceae6057

    This is pitty minutes. Tatum really getting that Moody/Kuminga treatment.

  4. Tasty-Performance275

    i see all the strongly worded letters from the boston area have reached kerr’s hotel room🔪🔪🔪

  5. Hovi_Bryant

    Would be crazy if playing time politics caused Team USA to fumble the gold.

  6. watrwedoing

    So where does he slot in? Booker and Jrue have been playing too well to get benched in the starting lineup. You could ideally play Embiid less minutes and have Tatum and KD as the 3/4 with Bam or AD at center in the second unit. Or just give him Derrick White’s minutes?

  7. SquimJim

    7 games and 7 different rotations

    I get switching things up in the exhibition games to find what works and also switching lineups up for the purposes of match-ups, but i feel like the lack of consistency isn’t a good thing. Part of our challenge is that these guys never play together and need to learn how to play together, I just don’t see how constantly switching it up promotes that.

  8. I think it rather dumb that Tatum didn’t play at all Sunday, but I think it even dumber to promise he will next time. You play to win the game. If it’s 40 minutes or 0 minutes for a guy, so be it — just don’t lose. 

  9. darthllama

    Team USA cruised to a victory against a team that could medal and it was somehow controversial. Not only that, but the controversy seems to be entirely driven by fans. I hope people remember this the next time they get mad at some media person for “generating outrage for clicks”.

  10. GYM_KATA

    Tatum has more future Olympics to play in and other players don’t. Kerr is taking the long view.

  11. HoorayPizzaDay

    He’ll probably take minutes away from Ant and Bam

  12. kingkongkeom

    This whole topic is blown so much out of proportion….

  13. Imsoamerican

    If we lose the gold due to internal bullshit drama and politics then that would be awful and very telling of American basketball today.

  14. MusicListener3

    What’s wild about this is that the only reason this is a topic of discussion here is because you have the braindead Tatum haters making it seem like he sucks because he didn’t get any playing time in a blowout win on one of the more stacked rosters of all-time beefing with the braindead Celtics fans thinking it’s a diss to not get any playing time in one game on such a team, all being spoonfed by a braindead sports media who thrives off of controversy instead of actually just reporting on sports.

    This is such a non-story it’s insane (although objectively hilarious that no one gives a shit that Hali isn’t playing)

  15. ChurchofMarx

    Everyone forgets that Hali didn’t play as well. But no one cares about him I guess.

  16. AnonymousIguana_

    I like how people are now acting like Tatum is Bronny James and his dad is forcing Kerr to play him. This whole thing is so stupid, but Tatum has not said a single word publicly for people to act like he’s making it about himself. Tatum fans are going too far and Tatum haters are just using this to shit on him, just like everything else.

    And he absolutely could play some minutes instead of the 3 guard lineups. 10 minutes of Jayson fucking Tatum, the guy who is an “elite role player” according to this sub, is not going to nuke the team’s chemistry and destroy our chance at gold. There is no reason to play Booker or Ant out of position at the 3 instead of Tatum.

    And for the record, I don’t mind him taking a backseat to Lebron and KD, the current and olympic GOATs. Kerr’s handling of the whole thing has sucked though, just give him 5 minutes and he would have avoided the backlash- he’s an multi all-nba player.

  17. lolimdivine

    they beat serbia by 24 just hours after kerr said that everyone wont play every game and the story is tatum didnt play. media is so stupid

  18. AdmiralDolphin11

    Barring injury or the gold medal game, it’s honestly insane any player on this team gets zero minutes in these games

  19. RunnerTexasRanger

    Not everyone plays. Kerr is annoying.

  20. Philly514

    I mean if Embiid is getting minutes literally everyone should. Play the waterboy too fuck it.

  21. Yoon_Sanha

    i’m glad Kerr finally figured out who was not playing Tatum

  22. Throwawayhobbes

    All hands on deck for that team we almost lost to.

  23. Act10njacks0n

    It’s hard to play all 12 guys. We gotta just chill and let it play out. Sucks for him but we alr know what he can do

  24. Fabulous-Tea-3272

    Tatum should just keep his head down and do what’s asked of him. Then tell USA basketball to kick rocks in 2028.

  25. SilverMagnum

    This is starting to feel like a situation where someone at USA basketball realized that they might have alienated someone they expect to play an important role in 2028 and possibly 2032 after seeing how Tatum looked miserable during the game and seeing how he got clowned on the internet during and after it. Only the way it’s been handled in the press by Kerr is only making it worse. It’s making Kerr look stupid in a “oh weird I forgot Jayson Tatum was on my team, I’m such a silly goose” way (that’s clearly disingenuous) and making Tatum look like bad even though he hasn’t said a word and handled it like a professional. Any minutes he gets now are going to be hyper scrutinized and will be seen as pity minutes, which is a shame. 

  26. AdmiralWackbar

    This puts Tatum in a shitty spot, he has to play really well in limited minutes. He’s going to have a microscope on him.

  27. Christbike

    Will this guy ever stfu? No wonder GS was a toxic mess of a team. 

  28. Tenacious_jb

    The 40 min games definitely go by quick

  29. Tanny2arthurjuan

    Honestly Jayson will probably get some minutes to guard Shayok 

  30. ConsiderationFirm315

    Ofc Tatum is going to get playing time vs SS. South Sudan size and athleticism gave our shorter guards some issues.

    Curry and Jrue will always be in the rotation as Curry is Kerr’s guy and the best shooter on the team, but I can see DW getting less minutes if any in that game.

  31. BigGuyNorthSide

    The starting line up needs to be Steph-Jrue-KD-Bron-AD. That should be the only story for personnel

  32. regalfronde

    Is it really a benching when it comes to the stacked USA team?

    Can we get some Haliburton minutes too?

    I’m having fun watching all of these players mesh so well together right now. A real treat.

    KD going off and I can finally feel like I’m cheering for him as a fan of “my team” rather than just a spectator of the sport. Felt great.

  33. rios02506

    We do this every Olympics lol. When the team is full of all stars some lower level all stars aren’t going to play that’s just the way it is, it’s not a reflection on his game. It’s also that you want to give the older guys more run because this is their last chance to play for their country. Tatum will likely be the star of the 28 team.

  34. Spaghettiisgoddog

    Who cares if he plays? Boston fans and JT? Meh 

  35. hoops_n_politics

    I think what’s true above all else is that Kerr will tailor the team’s personnel to match up best against the opponent that day. IMO Tatum’s best roles on this team would be as 1) a point forward running the offense, 2) small ball center, and 3) additional 3-and-D wing.

    This Olympics, Tatum has the “misfortune” of playing the same position as our two best players (LeBron and KD) – so opportunities to play point forward will most likely be sparing (to say the least). As for playing small ball center, I do think this is his best chance to contribute to this current roster. However, Serbia is one of the worst teams to try and play small against, so that t wasn’t happening yesterday.

    Finally, I’m not sure why Kerr didn’t give Tatum any minutes at 3-and-D wing. It could have been this opponent, or maybe that Kerr doesn’t quite trust his three point shot. But he got a DNP – probably because KD wasn’t missing and Kerr honestly just forgot about getting Tatum minutes (which he regrets now).

    For the record, I think it’s crap that people are giving Tatum shit for this. He’s done nothing to deserve all the clowning. But nephews gonna nephew I guess.

Write A Comment