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By Alex Kirschenbaum
Contributing Entertainment Writer
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In an absolutely stunning decision, Team USA head coach Steve Kerr opted to bench the best player on the reigning NBA championship team. Boston Celtics combo forward Jayson Tatum saw no action on Sunday's 110-84 blowout victory over Denver Nuggets' All-NBA center Nikola Jokic and the rest of Team Serbia.
Despite the matchup being a blowout, neither Tatum nor Indiana Pacers All-NBA point guard Tyrese Haliburton logged a single second.
Both of Tatum's All-Defensive Celtics comrades, guards Derrick White and Jrue Holiday, played significant rotation minutes in the victory. White is technically the club's 12th man, as he was brought in at the last minute for more perimeter defense (and sharpshooting) when Kawhi Leonard was sent home.
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All-NBA Phoenix Suns power forward Kevin Durant essentially stepped in and took over Tatum's minutes. Across just 17 minutes off the bench, the 6-foot-11 big man scored a team-leading 23 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the field (5-of-5 from deep) and 2-of-2 shooting from the foul line, while also pulling down two boards.
During an interview with Brian Windhorst of ESPN after the fact, Kerr appeared to deeply regret his decision to sit Tatum.
"Jayson handled it really well. I talked to him today before the game that it may play out this way just with Kevin coming back and the lineup that I wanted to get to," Kerr said. "But that'll change. Jayson's gonna play. Every game's gonna be different, based on matchups. Jayson's First Team All-NBA, three years in a row. I felt like an idiot not playing him, but in a 40-minute game you can't play more than 10. You really can't."
As far as Tatum's fate on Wednesday against South Sudan goes, Kerr has already indicated that Tatum will in fact return to his rotation, according to Windhorst.
"Jayson will play [Wednesday]," Kerr said. "I'm not going to answer your next question, which is if he plays, who doesn't. But we're going to need him, and part of this job for me is to keep everybody engaged and ready, because my experience with this is crazy stuff happens."
Haliburton, who was the best player on an Eastern Conference Finals team this spring, appears doomed to ride pine more permanently, given his all-offense/no-defense player profile. Kerr threw all three of his centers — Philadelphia 76ers All-Star Joel Embiid, Los Angeles Lakers All-NBA big man Anthony Davis, and Miami Heat All-Star Bam Adebayo — at Jokic on Sunday. Team USA's next opponent on Wednesday, South Sudan, is a smaller, faster squad, so it seems possible Adebayo is the 11th man.
"The hardest part of this job is you're sitting at least a couple of guys who are world-class, some of the very best players on Earth," Kerr added. "On one hand, it makes no sense at all. On the other, I'm asking these guys to just commit to winning one game and then move on to the next one. I have to do the same thing. And so I felt like last night those were the combinations that made the most sense."
Kerr seemed to hint at wanting to match South Sudan's pace Wednesday. The club, representing a country that just claimed independence from Sudan 13 years ago, almost beat Team USA during an exhibition game in London earlier this month.
"With South Sudan, it's more about the speed, and speed is a killer," Kerr said. "You have to be prepared for everything, and that means we need everybody."
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