Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green has never been shy about voicing his opinions, and his latest remarks center on a controversial decision made by his own NBA head coach, Steve Kerr, during the 2024 Paris Olympics. Green took to his podcast, The Draymond Green Show, to express his disapproval of Kerr’s choice to bench Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum in Team USA’s first group-stage game against Serbia.
“You don’t not play Jayson Tatum,” Green stated emphatically. “That man just won an NBA championship, graced the covers of NBA 2K and Sports Illustrated, and signed the biggest contract in NBA history. And yet, his reward is to sit out the first Olympic game.”
Green, who was part of Team USA’s gold-winning squad at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, pointed out that Tatum was a crucial contributor in that victory and was widely expected to step into a leadership role for the 2024 team, especially with Kevin Durant no longer on the roster. Despite Tatum’s underwhelming performance during the exhibition games leading up to the Olympics, Green believes that Kerr made a mistake by not playing Tatum against Serbia, a decision that seems to have had lasting effects on the team.
“Not playing (Tatum) was wrong,” Green continued. “We all know it was wrong. He should’ve played. He didn’t. But he should have. So, it was wrong, and we know that.”
Green also criticized the subsequent lineup decisions, which saw other star players like Joel Embiid and Jrue Holiday being benched in later games. He suggested that these decisions felt like Kerr and his staff were “covering their tracks” after the initial mistake of sitting Tatum.
“What I don’t like about it is, now it feels like a ‘covering my tracks, proving a point’ type of thing,” Green said, referencing Kerr’s choice to rest Embiid and Holiday in subsequent matchups. “From the outside looking in, it comes off as, ‘We made a mistake as a coaching staff.'”
Kerr has since acknowledged the controversy, admitting he “felt like an idiot” for not playing Tatum against Serbia but defended his decision by explaining that lineup combinations had to be considered carefully given the talent-laden roster. He also noted that sacrifices would be necessary from all players on the team.
While Steve Kerr is unlikely to use a 12-man rotation in every game, the decision to bench Tatum—a versatile, two-way player capable of guarding multiple positions and creating offensive mismatches—was surprising to many. Tatum has since returned to the starting lineup, recording a double-double in the recent game against Puerto Rico, which might suggest that the issue has been resolved.
However, as Green pointed out, Kerr’s initial decision to bench Tatum drew unnecessary attention to his roster management choices, putting additional pressure on the team as they advance through the tournament. Team USA’s next challenge is a quarterfinal matchup against Brazil on Tuesday at 3 p.m. ET.
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