“Steve’s all about winning” – Kevon Looney backs Steve Kerr for Jayson Tatum’s Olympic role

NBA champions Boston Celtics talisman Jayson Tatum surprisingly didn’t get a lot of game time in the Paris Olympics for Team USA. Ergo, the team’s head coach Steve Kerr’s decision was questioned by many experts however former Golden State Warriors centre Kevon Looney feels the chief coach made the right decision.

Tatum played in four of USA’s six games in Paris. He didn’t play in the semifinal clash against Serbia, which the USA won by 95-91 while bouncing back in the fourth quarter. Tatum came off the bench in the first quarter in the gold medal match against France on Saturday and played for 11 minutes. The 26-year-old scored two points and three rebounds in his short appearance.

“I know as a player, it sucks,” Looney told NBA insider Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson Tuesday. “I know that they went out there to sacrifice and give minutes for our country, and not seeing him get minutes sometimes is always gonna be tough, especially dividing the talent, and then who’s deserving to play. But Steve’s all about winning. He’s going to do all the necessary things to win, and he did win.

“So, when he makes a call like that and it actually works out, you kind of have to take it. He’s a coach who won as a player, a general manager and a head coach. So, you kind of have to respect his basketball knowledge,” he added.

Tatum, on the other hand, admitted it was challenging for him to warm the benches as he hasn’t found himself in such a situation since he started playing as a young kid.

“It was a lot. In the age of social media, you see everything,” Tatum said. “You see all the tweets and the people on the podcasts and people on TV giving their opinion on whether they thought it was a good decision or it was an outrageous decision or whatever.

“Obviously, I wanted to contribute more, and I’ve never been in [this] situation. I started playing basketball at [age] 3 at the YMCA, and I’ve never not played. So, it was different, and it was challenging.”

This was USA’s fifth consecutive gold medal at the Olympics.