Jayson Tatum’s Team USA benching in Sunday’s opening win over Serbia ignited a storm of backlash.
ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins did not hold back on “First Take” on Monday, ripping head coach Steve Kerr for disrespecting and embarrassing the Celtics’ star.
“You do not disrespect him [Tatum] and embarrass the way that you did. Because in this world today, we live in the world of social media. We can’t run from it. We can’t hide from it. It’s right there in front of our face. And no way in hell are you gonna tell me that Jayson Tatum wasn’t embarrassed,” said Perkins, who played the first nine years of his career in Boston.
The five-time NBA All-Star ended the 110-84 win with a DNP, despite averaging 17.6 minutes during the five exhibition games ahead of the Paris Games.
Kevin Durant, who had missed all of the exhibition games with injury, had seemingly snagged Tatum’s spot in the rotation against Serbia, finishing with 23 points on 8-of-9 shooting.
“The last time Team USA won the gold, Kevin Durant was the best player. You know who was the second-best player? It was Jayson Tatum!” Perkins said.
“My thing is, OK, if you’re Steve Kerr and Steve Kerr called up all his accolades, and what this man has accomplished, you know what Jayson Tatum is gonna bring to the table.”
Kerr, who’s won four NBA championship rings since taking over as Golden State’s head coach in 2014, explained that he “felt like an idiot” after benching Tatum, and that the forward would be back in the lineup Wednesday.
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against Serbia on Sunday. NBAE via Getty Images
Perkins insisted that a player of Tatum’s ilk, who just led the Celtics to an NBA championship, could play all the over floor and should not have his minutes eliminated because Durant was healthy.
“It’s a position-less sport when you talk about the game of basketball,” Perkins said. “When you talk about a guy like Jayson Tatum, he’s not nailed down to one position. Jayson Tatum is a versatile player — meaning if you want him to play the point, he could play point.
“If you want him to play the 2, he could play the 2. If you want him to play the wing, the 3, the 4, the 5, whatever you want him to play, he’s 6-9 with a versatile package on both ends of the floor.”
The team will be back in action on Wednesday for its second group-stage game against South Sudan.
Kerr said Tatum will play in that game after the benching against Serbia was based on matchups.
“The brand of looking on social media or hearing about it, because at the end of the day, yes, we should be talking more about Kevin Durant. Yes, we should be talking more about LeBron James after what they did last night,” Perkins said.
“But you know what was the real topic of the game? Jayson Tatum with a DNP.”
