Many fans were left wondering how Jayson Tatum was benched in Team USA’s promising victory in the first game of their group stages campaign against Serbia, which proved to be quite a shocking move considering that he came off fresh after winning the NBA Finals. But the Celtics star is seeing the silver lining in the experience.

Being benched on the big stage is something that can be quite impactful on a player’s confidence, especially when that big stage is the Olympics. However, it cannot be denied that Team USA has a lot of talented stars in their roster, which requires tactical decisions for them to bring out the best out of their squad.

Of course, this did not sit well with a lot of fans as there were plenty of criticism and memes that circulated on social media regarding Tatum being benched. It can be argued that it looked pretty much the same as how many critics claimed that Tatum got carried to a victory in the NBA Finals, with the Boston Celtics being a stacked team as it is.

A Silver Lining on the Big Stage

Tatum on the bench definitely raised a lot of brows during the game, but the Celtics forward was quick to shrug off the talks after he got his minutes in their game against South Sudan, which ended in a 103-86 victory for the United States. It was him who insisted that it is not much of a big deal than most people think.

"It's a unique situation, and it's not about one individual player, competitor in you wants to play obviously, but I'm not here to make a story about myself," Jayson Tatum said of being benched in their game against Serbia as they won to go up 1-0 in the group stages. "You win a championship, new contract, NBA 2K25 cover, Sports Illustrated... so after all of this, it's definitely a humbling experience."

According to head coach Steve Kerr, the decision to bench Tatum was quite the tactic based on the matchup. The Celtics star would later go on to receive playing time in their showdown versus South Sudan, but he did not really show up on that end after finishing with 4 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists on 2-of-4 shooting from the field.

Getting Carried to Another Title?

There are a lot of talks as to how Jayson Tatum got carried by the stacked Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals, winning him his first title even though he struggled mightily from the field for most of the postseason. The mere fact that Jaylen Brown was named as the ECF and Finals MVP says a lot about the lack of presence from Tatum, but it is worth noting that this is not the same case for his benching case in the Olympics.

For those who haven’t checked the stat sheet, Tatum was not the only player who was benched in their game against Serbia. Indiana Pacers star guard Tyrese Haliburton was also off the rotation in that game, which definitely alludes to how Team USA adjusted its player rotation to accommodate their advantage against Serbia.

So far, it is easy to say that Tatum is indeed getting carried to another title should Team USA end up with a win by the end of the Olympics, but it is safe to say that each of these players are willing to make adjustments to contribute to the win, even if it means they will not play in the game.