Charles Barkley Trolls Steve Kerr, Team USA During Jayson Tatum All-Star Announcement

Tatum was benched twice by Kerr during the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Tatum was named an NBA All-Star for a sixth consecutive season. / Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum was named an NBA All-Star for a sixth consecutive season on Thursday night, and along with Jalen Brunson, Donovan Mitchell, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Karl-Anthony Towns—was named an Eastern Conference starter.

The announcement, which was broadcast live with the NBA on TNT crew, saw Charles Barkley take a hilarious, out of nowhere shot at Team USA head coach Steve Kerr:

"Great player," Barkley said of Tatum. "Just not great enough to play in the Olympics—but he's a great player. One of the five best players in the East but not good enough to represent his country!"

"Great player. Just not good enough to play in the Olympics. But he's a great player."

Charles Barkley on Jayson Tatum. pic.twitter.com/UgsrFhO2oX

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 24, 2025

For those unaware, Tatum was benched twice by Kerr during Team USA's quest for a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics—a decision that, despite blowing over a bit since the summer, was put back under the microscope this week.

Following Boston's 125-85 spanking of the Warriors on Monday, Tatum seemed to ignore a lurking Kerr as he spoke to guard Stephen Curry. The Golden State head coach eventually poured cold water on the interaction, saying that the two spoke after the game and that Tatum "was an absolute dream to coach."

"During all that stuff, that so-called controversy," he continued. "You might notice there wasn’t a single quote from Jayson. It was everybody else talking about it."

Now, it's Sir Charles talking about it.

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