The Paris Olympics are long gone and hoops fans are already looking forward to the next NBA season. But many are still having a hard time looking past Steve Kerr’s controversial treatment of Jayson Tatum on the international stage. While most Team USA stars will cherish this trip their entire lives, JT might want to erase it from his memory because he did not get a chance to suit up in two of the six Olympic games. Sympathizing with the Celt after the ‘disrespect’ to his recent Champion aura, Carmelo Anthony understood why Coach Kerr did what he did, but called the mastermind out for not being clear cut with his words.

The NBA legend said, “I am a fan of Jayson Tatum like it hurt me when he wasn’t playing.” Obviously, he was referring to JT being benched against Serbia twice in the tournament, once in the group stage and the second time in the semi-final. And Melo, sitting courtside for the semi-final, felt Tatum’s pain, saying, “I understand why Tatum may have not played. I don’t agree with how they went about it.”

Looking at the depth chart, it was almost certain ahead of the tournament that Jayson Tatum would play a backup role for LeBron James and Kevin Durant. However, Melo believes that Steve Kerr should have been transparent about his strategy right away and let the Celtics star know during the Las Vegas camp what his role would be on the team. “I’m cool with you saying he’s not gonna play. Just be honest. This is where we have a lack of communication.” Anthony remarked on the 7PM in Brooklyn pod.

Had he already known that he would not get many minutes, he could’ve prepared both mentally and emotionally and worked it out accordingly with his new role. Instead, it turned into a “tough personal experience” after he found out Kerr’s strategy the hard way.

Steve Kerr’s lack of communication is the key reason that might have hurt Jayson Tatum’s performance

Being benched in the first game of the tournament, JT began the Olympics with a massive jolt. Then, all the speculations from the fans and media made the situation even worse as it added more pressure on both Steve Kerr and Jayson Tatum to produce results. In the next game, the Celt was directly bumped to the starting lineup, and he failed miserably, scoring only 4 points. Moreover, the situation never got better as Tatum finished the campaign, averaging only 5.3 points and logging in two DNPs.

Melo believes that a lot of why Tatum wasn’t able to perform when he was given a chance can also be blamed on Steve Kerr’s indecisiveness from the public lens, “You don’t know your role on the team. Now you searching and trying to dig and find what is my role on this team. Whereas those other guys don’t gotta change their role.”

Sure enough, Jayson Tatum was already well versed with the FIBA style of basketball as he performed brilliantly in the previous Olympics averaging more than 15 points. So, maybe Melo is right about the looming uncertainty of his role being the major reason for his terrible showing in Paris. Do you agree with the Knicks legend?

Before you go, do not forget to check out this crossover between BG12 and Georgia Bulldogs star Asia Avinger