Steve Kerr on not playing Jayson Tatum: 'I felt like an idiot not playing him'

Tatum did not take part in mixed-zone interviews after the game. He simply said he is in good health. Celtics guard Derrick White, who played 15 minutes, 40 seconds in Sunday’s win, said he spoke to Tatum after the game. “He’s good,” White said. “He’s in good spirits. He’s obviously a hell of a player and we’ve got a lot of great guys on the team, so he’ll be all right.” -via Boston Globe / July 28, 2024

Afterward, US coach Steve Kerr said Jayson Tatum’s absence was mostly related to the return of forward Kevin Durant, who poured in 23 points on 8 of 9 shooting in just 17 minutes after sitting out for nearly a month due to a calf strain. “It’s really hard in a 40-minute game to play more than 10 guys,” Kerr said. “With Kevin coming back, I just went to the combinations that I felt made the most sense. It seems crazy. I thought I was crazy when I looked at everything and determined these are the lineups I wanted to get to. Jayson is first-team All-NBA three years in a row. He’s one of the best players in the world. I went with the combinations I felt would make sense, and I talked to him, and he was incredibly professional.” -via Boston Globe / July 28, 2024

Kerr stressed that he does not anticipate that these rotations will remain unchanged throughout the Olympics. “[Tatum will] make his mark,” he said. “Our guys know the key to this whole thing is to put all the NBA stuff in the rearview mirror and just win six games. Jayson is the ultimate pro and champion and he handled it well, and he’s going to be ready for the next game.” -via Boston Globe / July 28, 2024