Just a day prior, Stephen A. Smith went on a rant about why Jayson Tatum did not feature for Team USA. Today he added another blunt statement about the Celtics star missing the first game of the 2024 Olympics. “I wouldn’t blame Jason Tatum if he wanted to fly home. He got better things to do with his time to ride the bench.” Even though Coach Steve Kerr explained, Tatum will have his overdue Olympic debut against South Sudan, which he got. The ESPN analyst is still not happy about the disrespect towards the Celtics star.

On his YouTube channel, he said there was no excuse for Jayson Tatum to be benched, and even hinted at a change in coaching job for the team. “You know what Steve Kerr, why don’t you go home, let Ty Lue coach let Erik Spoelstra coach? I bet you they’ll find some time for Jayson Tatum.”

The 56-year-old did not stop there. He continued his angry rant, but acknowledged that he was “being facetious.” Being aware of the achievements that Kerr has amassed, Smith called his action of not playing Tatum “egregious that it warrants him being insulted the way that I just insulted him.”

Previously in the video, Smith said that Kerr should be “ashamed of himself” calling his excuse “weak” and “pathetic“. The last time when Smith addressed the issue, he questioned the reasoning of LeBron James playing 27 minutes. Making it clear that everybody on the team should be getting minutes.

Speaking of everybody getting opportunities, Charles Barkley, a member of the Dream Team, spoke about how everybody on the team should be getting minutes.

Charles Barkley expresses his disappointment with Steve Kerr’s decision to bench Jayson Tatum

Assembling the Dream Team 2.0 seemed the hard part, but giving everybody time to play was even harder. “Chuck Daly did a fabulous job. He had two starting units. He said, ‘You guys are going to start when we think we’re playing against the best team.’ That was me and Michael and those guys.”

Rotating the combinations and giving the former best friends Barkley and Jordan the starting berth. Sir Charles even credited coach Chuck Daly for playing both teams at 10-minute intervals. Tatum, right now, seemed unfazed by not being on the team for the first game. Kerr gave the Celtics star the opportunity in the second game as Team USA won back-to-back games.

Tatum started the game and played 17 minutes in the entirety and scored 4 points. He contributed with 5 rebounds and 2 assists as well. Not to forget, the 26-year-old was coming into the Olympics on a hot form. He averaged 26.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 4.9 assists last season. With 4 more games up for grabs, Tatum would be itching to showcase his best form. Coach Kerr has already announced his starting 5 of Curry, Holiday, James, Booker, and Embiid for the next game. It will be interesting to see if the Celtics star gets any minutes or once again him not playing will become a hot debate.