Steve Kerr's 'Math Problem' Is Keeping Jayson Tatum on Team USA's Bench

With a Team USA roster stocked with NBA MVPs and All-Stars, Steve Kerr's toughest task at the Paris Olympics — other than winning the gold medal — was always going to be deciding who gets to play and who has to sit.

After five games at the Summer Games, it's clear that reigning NBA champion Jayson Tatum is one of the odd men out along with fellow All-Star Tyrese Haliburton. Both Tatum and Haliburton got their second DNPs of the tournament in Thursday's semifinal against Serbia.

Tatum's exclusion became a hot topic on X again during the Americans' 95-91 comeback win fueled by Stephen Curry's 36 points. On Friday, Kerr was asked to explain the Boston Celtics star's playing time, or lack of it.

Kerr attributed Tatum's nonexistent minutes to a "math problem."

“It’s not about anything Jayson is doing or not doing,” Kerr told reporters on Friday. “It’s just about combinations and the way that group has played together, the way Kevin (Durant) has filled in since he came back from his injury. It’s just a math problem more than anything.”

Kerr and Team USA managing director Grant Hill made it clear to their collection of NBA superstars that everyone had to make sacrifices for the greater good. No one is averaging more than 23 minutes, and no one is scoring more than 15 points per game. LeBron James is the team's top scorer at 14.2 points.

In exhibition games, Tatum got to play on the second unit while Durant was recovering from a calf injury. With the Americans facing France in Saturday's gold medal game, Kerr will probably shorten his rotation if the score is tight or the U.S. is trailing, like he did for USA's fourth-quarter rally against Serbia.

Still, it's puzzling how Tatum, a five-time All-Star and a first-team All-NBA selection the past three seasons, remains stuck on the bench.

Tatum's mom, Brandy Cole, shared her disappointment and confusion while replying to an X post by ESPN's Dick Vitale, tweeting that her son's benching is "unacceptable and makes NO SENSE."

“It’s not what I’m not seeing from Jayson. It’s what I’ve seen from the other guys,” Kerr said. “Like I’ve said many times during this tournament and this last six weeks, it’s just hard to play 11 people, even in an NBA game.”

Obviously, this is nothing personal between Kerr and Tatum, whose Celtics lost to Kerr's Golden State Warriors in the 2022 NBA Finals. However, Tatum's benching should make for an interesting story line when the two teams meet this season.

For his career, Tatum averages 22.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists against Golden State. He just might be on triple-double watch the next time he faces Kerr as an opponent.