Carmelo Anthony says he didn’t like how Team USA handled the Jayson Tatum situation at the Olympics.
Kerr infamously handed Tatum DNPs in two Olympic games and played him just 11 minutes in the gold medal match against France.
“I understand why Jayson Tatum may have not played,” Anthony said on the 7PM in Brooklyn podcast. “I don’t agree with how they went about it.
“… They wanted him to do what Devin Booker did. Be a stretch four, space the court, play some defense, and that’s it. But if you’re not told what’s your role and you just told to figure it out, right now if I get in the game I’m overthinking. We’re humans, too. Basketball players are human, athletes are human.”
Anthony also praised Tatum for how he handled himself.
“I want these young athletes out here to know s–t is real out here,” Anthony said. “… This man has one of the best resumes over the four or five years out of any player in any sport. What he went through, I want everybody to see that s–t, like that s–t hurt to go through… on national television around the world… He was resilient. He stood there and the world knows that he’s f–king pissed.”
Tatum finished the Olympics with averages of 5.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. He shot 38.1 percent from the field and missed all four of his three-point attempts. His 71 minutes played were the second-fewest on the team.
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