On a stacked USA Basketball men’s squad, some players were going to end up as the odd men out of the rotation some nights. One of those ended up being Jayson Tatum in a surprise to many (especially in Boston), but with a stacked roster of forwards headlined by LeBron James and Kevin Durant, Tatum’s skillset became a bit of a redundancy and he found himself on the outside looking in during two of Team USA’s games. The player that was not part of Steve Kerr’s rotation most games was a less controversial exclusion, as Tyrese Haliburton spent most of the Olympics as the hype man on the bench, making a few appearances but only playing 26 minutes across Team USA’s six games — with three DNPs.
On a team loaded with offensive talent and shot creation, Haliburton’s best attributes were not needed as much, and Kerr opted to put stronger defenders into the rotation at the guard spots. That proved to be the right choice, as — backing up their s . Haliburton picked up his third DNP in the gold medal game, but he still collects the same hardware as everyone else.
The Pacers All-Star is well aware of what his role on this team was, and of anyone on the team after winning gold ( ). Every USA Basketball team needs guys willing to set aside their ego and embrace the role asked of them. It’s a team full of stars but you can’t have 12 guys playing their normal role and have it work together.
For some, like Devin Booker, it’s about adapting a role while playing big minutes, .