Hot seat
Over the weekend, Steve Kerr learned the hard way that when it comes to steering Team USA to Gold in the 2024 Summer Games, not even victories will spare him from criticism. Even as he enabled the red, white, and blue to wax Nicola Jokic-led Serbia for their first triumph in group play, the aftermath saw him parrying numerous queries on his in-game decision making. Of interest to hoops habitues, and particularly to Celtics fans, was his choice to keep Jayson Tatum nailed to the bench from start to finish.
“I felt like an idiot,” Kerr replied in seemingly second-guessing the controversial measure. He then assured all and sundry that Tatum would see action in Team USA’s match against South Sudan tomorrow. Not that it quieted the madding crowd. And not that he didn’t set himself up for censure, especially when he revealed immediately after the win over Serbia was secured that it was his plan all along. He even went so far as to disclose that he clued the Celtics stalwart in before tipoff on what was to happen.
The irony is that Kerr has all the right in the world to apportion exposure on the court as he sees fit. It doesn’t matter that he’s the head coach of an aggroupation of the best of the best in basketball. There are only 200 minutes to divvy up in the course of an Olympics set-to, and it’s not as if he needs a stop watch to make sure that he is equitable in his actions. In this connection, it bears noting that Tatum wasn’t the only victim of the time crunch. Fellow National Basketball Association All-Star Tyrese Haliburton likewise rode pine, although, creditably, no hint of bitterness from the latter was apparent at any point during the contest.
In any case, Kerr knows the bottom line. His ultimate objective isn’t to make very body around him happy. It’s to do all that he needs to make sure that Team USA meets lofty expectations. And if it means a few bruised egos en route, so be it. He knows only too well the burden of being in the hot seat, and far be it for him to be swayed by the opinions of armchair experts and the emotions of his charges.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and human resources management, corporate communications, and business development.