During their very first video game of the 2024 Paris Olympics, Team U.S.A. head coach Steve Kerr chose to leave Boston Celtics super star Jayson Tatum on the bench while the team handled Serbia.

Ultimately, the relocation didn’t make much of a distinction in regards to altering the result of the video game, as the Americans facilitated work of Nikola Jokic and business to start their mission for the gold medal.

After the video game, although Team U.S.A. crushed Serbia, criticism was directed and Kerr and his training personnel for making the questionable choice to bench a ruling NBA champ.

Not just was Tatum’s benching a hot subject of conversation in league circles over the previous couple of days, however it likewise took a little bit of a toll on the young forward, as he confessed he was humbled by being required to see from the bench, by means of Basket News.

“It’s definitely a humbling experience,” Tatum stated.

Jayson Tatum on not betting Serbia:

“It’s definitely a humbling experience.” #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/wfuLZxMjJe

— BasketNews (@BasketNews_com) July 31, 2024

Fortunately for Tatum, the benching was not something that rollovered to the next video game, as he was really in the beginning lineup versus South Sudan, which was a relocation by Kerr that nobody saw coming.

However, this appears to be something that Kerr will do throughout the competition to keep his gamers fresh. For example, Joel Embiid was benched versus South Sudan, however it didn’t matter as the Americans won a 2nd straight video game with relative ease.

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