As controversies go, the Jayson Tatum Olympic DNP mess is pretty tame. Charles Barkley’s point about respecting the time and effort it takes to be part of this team so everyone should play is probably the best one made over the past few days.
It did raise interest heading into the USA/South Sudan game on Wednesday afternoon as people wondered what Steve Kerr had up his sleeve. He’d said Tatum was going to play and he stuck to his word right away by starting Tatum in a bit of a lineup shift. Joel Embiid and Jrue Holiday moved to the bench while Tatum and Anthony Davis joined the opening lineup.
Tatum’s night beyond that was okay but nothing special. He shot 2-4, including one gross miss from the right sideline that hit the backboard. He rebounded and passed well (five rebounds and two assists), but ultimately finished as a -4 in 17 minutes of a 17-point win.
But adding Tatum and Davis to the starters, and removing Embiid from the game in general, did give Team USA a much better, more switchable defense that helped get the Americans out to a much better start. The immediate impact of benching Embiid meant no drop coverage where the South Sudan team could walk into shots and get hot, which led to more misses, more rebounds, and more transition.
This plays to what I wrote on Sunday night. Embiid, for all his NBA greatness, is not the best fit with Team USA. He has slowed things down and his inability to switch, or make many athletic plays in general, is a bit of a problem against this international competition. Removing him from the equation helped Kerr find the right mix for most of the game.
To be fair, Embiid’s time shouldn't be wasted either. Guys on the team should be playing, though it’s easier to justify Embiid sitting for fit and health reasons.
And it’s really easy to justify it when Bam Adebayo was able to dominate the first half like he did.
He was part of a very unfair bench unit that also included Derrick White, Holiday, and Kevin Durant. I don’t even like calling it a bench unit because those four and Anthony Edwards would probably be a top-four seed, but they technically came off the bench so that's what they were.
Which brings me to the real story of Team USA, and the resolution of another Celtics Olympic controversy.
I said from the beginning that White is the right choice to replace Kawhi Leonard and he’s done nothing but prove that right. He also came in and got an early DNP, but once he started getting minutes, he started showing why he’s not only critically important to Team USA’s success, he’s capable of being critically important to any team he’s on.
White got credit for only one blocked shot but he challenged a few and it sure felt like he had more. He notched a block, 3-pointer, and a steal (one of three) all in rapid succession shortly after checking in. And just like his defense, his passing looked too good to only finish with one assist. He seamlessly fit in running pick-and-rolls with Adebayo and Davis.
The best thing to happen to Boston this summer was White agreeing to a contract extension before heading to the Olympics. If the NBA Finals run didn’t do anything to convince people that White isn’t a perfect fit everywhere, his Olympics run will. He’s the skeleton key that unlocks great basketball every time he’s on the floor. His mistakes are infrequent and they are rarely compounded. On a team full of megastars, White is the thread that binds them all.
Throw in a heavy dose of Holiday and the Olympics are showing why the Celtics were so damn good.
On a team full of great talent, the combination of White and Holiday is both critical and unfair. Glue guys aren’t supposed to be as good as these two.
Bucks GM Jon Horst recently defended the move to bring in Damian Lillard, despite it costing them Holiday and triggering the domino effect that sent him to Boston. Of course, he can’t say the obvious out loud because he needs this move to work out in Milwaukee, but losing Holiday was crushing to the Bucks.
At least the Spurs were aware of what they had in White, which is why he had to go if they were going to have a shot at Victor Wembanyama.
The White and Holiday combination can carry long stretches of momentum in any game. They did it so often in Boston that it wasn’t really surprising anymore. Now they're doing it for the American team and everyone can get an up close look at just how good they are. They combined to shut down South Sudan on Wednesday afternoon and open up opportunities for others. The result was a fairly comfortable win.
Almost as comfortable as the feeling Celtics fans have knowing they're back next season.