Fighting for a spot in the gold medal Showdown, Team USA and Serbia arguably played the best game so far. Unfortunately for Jayson Tatum, he was not part of the thrill. For the second time in the Paris Olympics, head coach Steve Kerr has benched JT for the entire game. During the previous instance, the Celt voiced out. However, this time, it did not sit well with Tatum’s mother, Brandy Cole, as she publicly criticized Steve for his decision. However, after the 95-91 win, Kerr broke the silence and revealed his side of the story.

As Jayson Tatum logged in another DNP against Serbia, his Mum was outraged and retweeted Celtics faithful Dan Greenberg’s controversial perspective, “If Kerr is watching this and willingly deciding “Yeah, Jayson Tatum couldn’t help here” then he legitimately cannot coach in 2028.”

Taking over the reins from Gregg Popovich, this is also Steve Kerr’s first Olympics experience as the head coach of Team USA. And just after Brandy’s criticism, the head coach revealed the struggles of this role, emphasizing the problem of having plenty, after the Serbia encounter. “It’s an interesting position to be in when you have so much talent at your disposal. It’s an incredible luxury, and it’s also difficult for decision-making, but those were the guys we went to.”

Obviously, with multiple future Hall of Famers on the squad, not everyone can get their desired minutes every game. And with stakes so high in the semis, Steve Kerr likely didn’t want to experiment with a new line-up as he had already blown out Serbia 110-84 earlier in the tournament with the same rotation.

Although he didn’t directly address Tatum’s DNP, he explained the exact reasoning behind the fourth-quarter line-up he chose. “The guys, they determined the line-up really. They were individually and collectively they were playing the best we had played all night and so we just stayed with them,” he concluded on ESPN. The line-up included four former MVPs LeBron, Durant, Steph, and Embiid, along with Devin Booker. However, this isn’t the first time that such a thing has happened with Team USA in Paris.

Jayson Tatum’s DNP was all about tactics, Steve Kerr already clarified

Being Jayson’s mother, it is understandable why Brandy was not happy to see her son on the bench once again. However, Kerr revealed the last time he benched JT against Serbia in the group stage that he decided solely because of the opposing matchup. With Kevin Durant making a return from a calf injury, the two-time champ fitted much better in the lineup than the Celtics superstar. And that turned out to be the right decision as KD scored 23 points in that game.

Knowing how great of a player Jayson Tatum is, Kerr even said after the game, “I felt like an idiot not playing him, but you know 40-minute game you can’t play more than ten, you really can’t.” Moreover, even when JT has been on the court, he hasn’t had any breakout performances so far that would force Team USA’s mastermind to consider putting him in the line-up.

In the 3 games he has played, JT has averaged only 6.3 points and scored in double digits only once. And there is a possibility the Celt just doesn’t fit well with this group even though he is a great individual talent. With only one game remaining in the tournament, it will be interesting to see if Kerr puts Tatum in the line-up for the gold medal match against France.

What would you do?

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