As Team USA gears up for Saturday's Group C finale against Puerto Rico, coach Steve Kerr is defending his lineup decisions at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
"For us, it's very obvious watching games that having guys in their usual roles is very helpful,” Kerr said at Friday's practice, per ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. “And so it doesn't make a whole lot of sense for us to put our five leading scorers on the floor from an NBA season because those guys don't complement each other well. Just coaching basketball, it's pretty simple for us, regardless of all the noise."
Given that Team USA is overloaded with the world's best basketball talent, Kerr has plenty of lineup possibilities, even if it means elite players such as Jayson Tatum and Joel Embiid might not play, depending on the situation. Instead, Kerr's focus is on setting complementary lineups that take advantage of the Americans' imposing size, physicality and shooting ability without crowding the floor.
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Three-time Olympic gold medalist Kevin Durant knows this well, and isn't concerned about how Kerr rotates the starting lineup.
“It's basketball. It really doesn't matter who starts,” Durant said, per Windhorst. “It's about really who finished the game, who put their impact on the game while they're in the game. So, I just try to do my best to impact it any way I can.”
The legendary 1992 Dream Team used six different starting lineups during the Barcelona Olympics, with Michael Jordan the only player to start every game. What matters most is winning gold, and Team USA is well on its way to doing that after blowing out Serbia and South Sudan to start the Paris Games.
With Steph Curry, LeBron James, Anthony Edwards and Devin Booker anchoring Team USA's roster, it's unlikely that any other nation stands a chance. The Americans owned the largest point differential after two games at plus-43, so Kerr clearly is doing something right.
