Jayson Tatum added a legitimate talent and a championship identity after winning the NBA Finals with the Boston Celtics in his latest stint with Team USA.
Tatum played well and helped his country win the gold medal during the last installment of the Olympics. This time around, Tatum and other Celtics stars have been put in strange positions, headlined by him not playing to open the games against Serbia on Sunday.
FS1’s Colin Cowherd weighed in on head coach Steve Kerr not getting Tatum in the game and called out the NBA champion for a larger discussion.
“What he lacks is that rip-your-heart-out DNA, which most of our great players have had,” Cowherd shared on “The Herd” on Monday. “… He doesn’t have it. He’s highly skilled. He’s a great guy, but he’s almost submissive at times.”
Team USA is obviously stacked with talent with LeBron James and Steph Curry leading the way. Cowherd feels that the Celtics star gets buried under star talent surrounding him in their locker room.
“I’d argue he’s way at the back of the top-10 players,” Cowherd said. “When you put him around all these alphas and all these highly skilled players, he disappears. He shrinks. I feel bad for him.”
While Kerr asserted that Tatum would take the court in Team USA’s next contest, Cowherd isn’t quite sure where the All-NBA Celtics star fits into the rotation.
“There’s no part of his game when you surround him with great players that stands out,” Cowherd assessed. “Shooting? No, that’s Kevin Durant. That’s Steph Curry and Derrick White. Defense? No, that’s Anthony Davis. That’s Jrue Holiday and Bam (Adebayo). Leadership? No, that’s Lebron (James) and Steph. Athletically? No, that’s (Anthony Edwards). There is nothing on this team he’s best at.”
