As expected, Team USA is heading to the Paris Olympics with an undefeated status. Although they did win all five Showcase games before the actual tournament, the way they won has raised concern among their supporters. With LeBron James doing all the heavy lifting in the last two games and practically carrying the team to victory against South Sudan and Germany, several media veterans and fans have started questioning young guns Jayson Tatum and Anthony Edwards’ lack of contribution, consistently.

In the close encounter against South Sudan, where Team USA at one stage trailed by sixteen points, it was LeBron’s 25-point outburst that saved them from massive embarrassment. Then, in the final game against Germany, King James turned back the clock, scoring the last 11 points for his team to lead them to a 92-88 victory. And his heroic performance has made many believe that even at age 39, LBJ is ‘The Guy’ for Team USA.

However, media veterans Rob Parker and Martin Weiss claim that it might not be a great look for the team. Addressing Team USA’s struggles against Germany, Parker bombarded his viewers with a ton of questions, “At almost age 40 years old, he’s the best player. But this is shameful to me, Martin. Really? Is it a good sign? Forget about this Olympics. Going forward, where are the other guys?”“Where’s Tatum? Where’s Edwards? I thought those were the young bucks, those are the new stars of the NBA. Where are they? MIA! I don’t know why LeBron has to do this at the end for the United States to beat these teams. South Sudan they were favored by 43 points!” Parker concluded on the Odd Couple. Despite having so many Championship caliber players on the team, it’s a bit surprising that the oldest player on the roster was the highest scorer for Team USA in the Showcase games.

While Tatum has recently won an NBA Championship and Ant-Man boldly claimed a few weeks ago that he would be the Number 1 option on the team, both young stars have not had much impact on the court so far. And Martin Weiss blames it on one person.

Should Steve Kerr be blamed for Team USA’s struggles?

While Rob Parker raised his concerns over Tatum and Edwards’ production, his co-host Martin claimed it was all because of head coach Steve Kerr, “You asked where is Jayson Tatum, where is Anthony Edwards—Stapled to the bench in the second unit for reasons I can’t tell!” Throughout the Showcase games, only LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Joel Embiid were the players who started in all five encounters. Meanwhile, Tatum was in the starting lineup only twice and Ant-Man only once!

Sure enough, that hampered their productivity, considering they are not used to coming off the bench being the primary option for their respective NBA teams. Moreover, Weiss claimed that out of all the regular starters so far, only LeBron has proven that he deserves that spot permanently.

“I think if you surround LeBron with Anthony Edwards, Jayson Tatum, Anthony Davis, and Bam Adebayo, maybe we’d have a little bit more optionality on the roster. But the way that Steve Kerr is running these guys out there, doing these hockey line changes five in five out, I don’t…” Weiss continued.

For some reason, Steve Kerr has not given Anthony Edwards the starting nod even though he was the best player on Team USA during last year’s FIBA World Cup, averaging 18.9 points and 4.6 rebounds. That too when Joel Embiid has been struggling on the court.

Yes, replacing a big with the Minnesota Timberwolves’ young leader is not an ideal option, but Steve Kerr could have gone with a fresh rotation to see if that would’ve ended their struggles. As Team USA prepares for their first game in Paris, it’ll be interesting to see if the head coach, who is under solid pressure, makes any major changes in the lineup and upgrades Edwards and Tatum’s role or goes with the tried and tested option.