Steve Kerr had plenty of lineup options as coach of Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics, which led to some difficult rotational decisions.
Speaking on KNBR’s "Tolbert and Copes Show," Kerr was asked how Jayson Tatum, Joel Embiid and others handled his lineup decisions.
“I addressed the team before the first practice, and we talked about it,” Kerr said. “The elephant in the room is that every guy in here is going to go into the Hall of Fame eventually. So, how do we figure out how to play, how to put together [lineup] combinations and I said, ‘I’m going to ask all of you to commit to just winning and to set everything else aside, all the usual NBA bs.’
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“The guys all handled it really well, other players were really good about supporting Jayson and Joel, but these are guys who are world-class players, and nobody is used to seeing them play so few minutes. So, it’s just a weird spectacle, I get it.”
With one of the deepest rosters ever assembled, Kerr eventually settled on a lineup featuring LeBron James, Steph Curry, Joel Embiid, Devin Booker and Jrue Holiday. Eventually, Embiid lost playing time to Kevin Durant whereas Tatum was relegated to the bench, and barely saw the floor.
Kerr was scrutinized throughout the Olympic tournament for his lineup decisions, but it’s hard to argue with the end results.
Thanks to the superhuman play of Curry, Durant and James, Team USA fended off spirited challenges from Serbia and France in the final two games to win the gold medal for the fifth consecutive Olympics.
