Draymond Green Says Steve Kerr Made ‘Mistake’ by Benching Jayson Tatum at Olympics

The Warriors star didn't hold back on his current coach.

Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green shared his blunt thoughts on the recent drama surrounding the U.S. men’s Olympic basketball team this summer.

After Team USA coach Steve Kerr benched Jayson Tatum during the Olympic opener over Serbia, many were left bewildered as to why the Boston Celtics forward didn’t play a single minute and was instead tabbed as a DNP-Coach’s Decision.

Green was among those scratching their heads and believes the Team USA coaching staff was flat-out “wrong” for keeping Tatum out of the game.

“Not playing [Tatum] was wrong,” Green said on his eponymous podcast on Saturday. “We all know it was wrong. He should’ve played. He didn’t… What I don’t like about it is, now to me it feels like a covering my tracks, proving a point type of thing to where, oh now Joel [Embiid] is out of the lineup. And then today, Jrue [Holiday] didn’t play… From the outside looking in, it comes off as, ‘We made a mistake as a coaching staff.’”

Kerr explained that he didn’t play Tatum because he “went with combinations that made sense” against Serbia and because he wanted to give Kevin Durant, who had just returned from injury, extra minutes on the floor. 

In Team USA’s second Olympic game against South Sudan, Joel Embiid was left out of the lineup, and in the Group C finale over Puerto Rico, Jrue Holiday reportedly sat out due to an ankle injury.

Green clearly isn’t a fan of the musical chairs situation going on in Team USA’s camp and gave some stern advice to Kerr—who is his NBA head coach—and the rest of the coaching staff.

“I’m sure it’s part ‘We can rest the ankle a little bit’, but it’s part we gotta not play somebody. And quite frankly, I don’t like it. Come out with a rotation and stick with it. These teams aren’t good enough to where we’re trying to match their lineup. They gotta match our lineup… We got the best players in the world. We’ll be fine.”

After going three-for-three in group play, Team USA will face Brazil in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.