Charles Barkley criticized Team USA head coach Steve Kerr for sideling Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum during their opening game against Serbia in the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Kerr’s explanation of going with “combinations that made sense” didn’t sit well with the NBA legend.
“Everybody on the team has to play first and foremost,” Barkley said when he appeared on SiriusXM’s NBA radio on Monday. “Do you have to play 25-30 minutes? No, but it’s the Olympics. It’s not like there’s not a huge downgrade putting Jayson Tatum in the game. Like, come on man. Everybody deserves to play at least 10 minutes.”
Barkley is well aware of what it takes to play on a team filled with NBA stars. He was on the 1992 men’s team that took home gold with Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Karl Malone, Patrick Ewing, Scottie Pippen, David Robinson, John Stockton, Chris Mullen, Clyde Drexel and Christian Laettner. Two-time NBA champion Chuck Daly was the coach to lead the OG Dream Team to its undefeated record.
“Chuck Daly did a fabulous job. He had two starting units,” Barkley explained. “… He said, ‘You guys are going to start when we think we’re playing against the best team.’ That was me and Michael and those guys. I don’t think any of us played over 25 minutes. I’m actually positive.”
Jordan was the only player on the roster to start all eight games for Team USA in 1992. Johnson missed two games because of knee problems and the rest of the players rotated in the other starting spots. Barkley believes Kerr can follow the strategies Daly put in place to make the Olympics work with active NBA titans.
“You can’t expect everyone to go other there and practice and then not play in the damn Olympics,” he said. “Come on man, you gotta give them 10-15 minutes along the way.”
Kerr already confirmed Tatum would play in Team USA’s matchup against Sudan on Wednesday, but it might not be a bad idea to follow the model Daly put in place.
