NBAE via Getty Images
The star-studded depth on the United States men’s basketball squad is such that the lone American to make first-team All-NBA last season didn’t even get off the bench in the squad’s Olympics-opening victory Sunday.
Celtics All-Star and first-time NBA champion Jayson Tatum and league assists leader Tyrese Haliburton were the only two players on the 12-man roster not used by U.S. coach Steve Kerr in a 110-86 win over Nikola Jokic and Serbia in Lille, France.
Kerr explained afterward that “it’s really hard in a 40-minute game to play more than 10 guys,” but two of Tatum’s defensive-minded teammates were part of that 10-man rotation. Point guard Jrue Holiday was in the starting lineup with LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid and Devin Booker.
Even Derrick White, a last-minute replacement after Kawhi Leonard dropped out, played 16 minutes with the Kevin Durant-led second unit.