“Must Know the Coach”: Gilbert Arenas Accuses Team USA of ‘Favoritism’ Amid Steve Kerr’s Dilemma of Managing Superstars

While Team USA has been more dominant than ever on the court during the Paris Olympics, the situation behind the scenes has been rather complicated. From controversial decisions like snubbing Jaylen Brown in the initial selection process to managing and using the 12 superstars correctly have put the USABMNT under major scrutiny.

Adding fuel to those conversations, NBA legend Gilbert Arenas put a massive accusation on the selection committee while head coach Steve Kerr continues to struggle with the team management dilemma in Paris.

‘Favoritism’ in USA Basketball?

Questioning USA Basketball’s selection process on the Gil’s Arena podcast, panel member Kenyon Martin revealed his thoughts about being left off the 2004 Olympics team, “F**k the Olympic Committee man. They botched that s**t in ’04.” Making his first All-Star team that year and helping Team USA qualify for the Athens event a year prior, Martin believed he deserved a spot on the roster ahead of several players who made the cut. Then, he claimed that a proper tryout would have ensured his selection. “You show up and you play a certain way. People can’t deny you. That’s why it wasn’t no tryouts,” blaming the committee for not conducting a fair process.

Agreeing with the sentiment, Arenas claimed there was “never a tryout” and shared an incident that made him believe there has always been favoritism involved in Team USA’s selection process, “2006, we sitting here like, there were players like getting barbecued in the “tryouts” that they was having.” However, to Arenas’ surprise, the player would return the next day despite being dominated and clearly not good enough to be on the team.

“You want some more huh? You must know the coach … Are you already on this team?” Arenas wondered. But seeing the pattern, Gil realized what was actually happening in the tryouts. “This is crazy. Like you literally don’t even belong in this realm, but you got promised.”

And many fear that a similar case might have occurred this year as USA Basketball left the reigning Finals MVP Jaylen Brown off the team and selected his teammate Derrick White, who is usually the fifth option on the Celtics squad. Moreover, Arenas claimed that might not have been the case if a legitimate tryout had been conducted to assess which player deserved to be on the team.

“I guarantee you if you said ‘Hey White, we thinking about you and Jaylen Brown play one-on-one. Sh*t we can play five-on-five, y’all the captains of your team.’ I guarantee you White wouldn’t have been on this team.”

Even Derrick White would likely agree that Jaylen Brown is a better player than him. Brown led the Celtics to a title and averaged 20.8 points to win the Finals MVP. Yet, somehow, that wasn’t enough to secure him a spot on Team USA.

Will superstars avoid the Olympics in the future?

While the selection process is part of the problem, a major concern for Team USA is managing their star power. HC Steve Kerr struggled to give all the terrific players equal importance. Players like Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton, who are the usual primary options on their teams back home, were sitting on the bench for the majority of the gameplay in Paris. This lack of playing time affects their performance when they finally get to be on the court.

After Kerr sat Tatum out in the opener against Serbia, he was suddenly bumped to the starting role the next game and failed miserably by scoring only 4 points. And even in the quarter-final against Brazil, JT couldn’t score more than 5 points and missed four of his five shot attempts.

Similarly, Tyrese Haliburton, this season’s assist leader, has gotten the least minutes on the court out of every Team USA player. While the team might end up winning a gold medal regardless, Arenas believes the reduced usage of young stars could affect the players’ decision to represent the country in future events. “You got the young players who’s looking at the botching of what’s going on here. They looking at it like ‘I’m a good man. I don’t wanna be f**ked over.’”

More so because the disrespect on the international stage could hurt their marketability as Arenas remarked, “It is about brands… So, you’re messing up my brand me going here.”

We understand that it’s a tough decision for Steve Kerr to manage so much talent on the same team because in the end, winning a gold medal is his topmost priority. However, there is no denying that the controversial selection process and how some stars are being used on the court might end up hurting USA Basketball going forward.

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