Steve Kerr Announces Rotation Change for USA vs. South Sudan

Golden State Warriors and USA Basketball head coach Steve Kerr is making a change

Dec 12, 2023; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr against the Phoenix Suns at Footprint Center. | Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

USA Basketball defeated Serbia on Sunday to move to 1-0 in the Paris Olympics Group Phase. It was a convincing win for Team USA, but it did not come without controversy, as head coach Steve Kerr did not play Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum a single minute.

Out of Kerr's rotation due to Kevin Durant's return from injury, Tatum was a DNP-CD, which Kerr explained after the game.

"I went with the combinations that made sense," Kerr told reporters on the decision to keep Tatum on the bench. "That was for tonight. He handled it well. He’ll make his mark."

Kerr admits Tatum was a straight up DNP-CD. “I went with the combinations that made sense. That was for tonight. He handled it well. He’ll make his mark.” #Celtics #Paris2024
— gary washburn (@GwashburnGlobe) July 28, 2024

Saying that Tatum will make his mark, it doesn't seem the Golden State Warriors head coach will be waiting long for that to happen, as he told ESPN's Brian Windhorst that Tatum will be back in the rotation against South Sudan.

"He handled it really well," Kerr said. "I talked to him today before the game that it may play out this way just with Kevin coming back... But that will change. Jayson is gonna play. Every game will be different, based on matchups... I felt like an idiot not playing him, but in a 40 minute game you can't play more than 10... He'll be back out there next game."

"He handled it really well. I talked to him today before the game that it may play out this way just with Kevin coming back... Jayson's gonna play... I felt like an idiot not playing him" -Steve Kerr pic.twitter.com/xwndCt6GW1
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) July 28, 2024

Kerr reiterated again on Monday, per the Athletic, that Tatum "will play" in Wednesday's game against South Sudan, but would not reveal who will lose minutes as a result.

Tatum played 16 minutes in USA's 101-100 Showcase Game win over South Sudan, shooting just 3/8 from the field and missing all three of his three-point attempts. That said, USA struggled as a group from distance in that game, and should be much sharper in the rematch.

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