Sure, I bleed green.
Paul Pierce was the reason I got into basketball, and – despite turning 25 this summer – Larry Bird is my all-time favorite player.
By the way, I have an uncle who believes Bird couldn’t start in today’s NBA. Or, that Danny Ainge couldn’t crack a roster.
There’s your weekend humor. Back to the point.
The U.S. men’s Olympic team defeated Serbia (by just four lowly points) on Thursday and trailed by as many as 17.
LeBron played well; Curry shot the lights out of the arena; Durant closed things out.
And Tatum… oh, wait. He didn’t play.
A consensus top-five player in the league, the NBA’s highest-paid player, and the best weapon on the world champion Boston Celtics played zero minutes – for the second time this summer.
Coach Steve Kerr blamed it on “math.”
Right, and when I was a kid, I didn’t eat vegetables because of the “math” on my plate.
The first time he benched Tatum – and that’s exactly what it is, a benching – Kerr said it was only a 40-minute game. So?
He’s Jayson Tatum, an all-around great who can create his own shot, facilitate, rebound, and play defense. He was, arguably, the best player on the U.S. Olympic team that captured the gold medal in 2021, too.
You could, maybe, argue three or four Americans are better than Jayson Tatum, but 10?
Look, I’m not saying Kerr needs to run his offense through Tatum. The former role player for Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls coached Curry and Durant for years in Golden State, so I expected those two and LeBron to lead the way.
But you couldn’t find a way to give Tatum some action, even for a few minutes?
Enough of my ranting. Here’s what some other people have said about the situation:
“The disrespect that Steve Kerr has shown Jayson Tatum throughout this tournament makes me hate this team,” said Barstool Sports Founder Dave Portnoy, who grew up in Swampscott. “I want France to beat them by 1,000 points.”
“I can’t figure out Kerr’s thinking,” said Celtics’ legend Bob Cousy. “He must think Tatum is a detriment, and I don’t see how he can feel that way and know anything about basketball. … “To me, there’s got to be some kind of bias that he’s got against the Celtics.”
“In a 26-point, lopsided victory, you can’t find one minute?” said ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“They haven’t used their depth the right way,” said NBA Hall-of-Famer Charles Barkley. “Put Jayson Tatum in an NBA game, and he’s going to be better than 99 percent of the guys…”
“But if you find out what’s going on, please let me know,” said Tatum’s mother, Brandy Cole.
Now, look, is Kerr going to hear boobirds at TD Garden next year? Absolutely.
Personally, I’m not sure it has anything to do with Boston. Or Tatum. Or Kerr’s Belichick-like motive to win in unorthodox ways.
I’m not in Kerr’s brain, so it’s pointless for me to speculate.
All I’m saying is, Kerr has to know how Celtics’ fans are feeling. They’re watching the face of their franchise be humiliated on the global stage.
Either Kerr doesn’t care, or truly believes his rotations are better without Tatum.
And either way, I disagree.
The U.S. takes on France for all of the marbles at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. I’ll have it on, but something tells me Celtics’ fans won’t be running to their televisions.
I’ll end with this: Between not selecting Jaylen Brown and benching Jayson Tatum, there will be plenty of vengeance to go around come October.
