Men's Olympic Basketball Thank You's

You likely saw that the USA Men's Basketball team won Gold on Sunday. It was a good game, but it wasn't in doubt until the end of the game, and then Stephen Curry stepped in and sunk three dagger shots to make the game academic. I have some thoughts. Let's dig in, thank-you style.

Thank You to ... the FIBA Refs

I would like to start with how bad the FIBA refs were. In a way, their behavior was admirable, because for the most part they were awful for both teams. But the refs dramatically swung the Olympics on two calls that benefited the two teams that reached the Gold Medal game.

First, in group play, with France down four points to Japan with precious little time left, they whistled a foul on a late three in which the Japanese defender never touched the French player. The foul allowed France to tie the game and send it to overtime, where France remembered that they were the better team and won.

Then, in the semifinals, they called a foul on Nikola Jokić as Kevin Durant buried a three. For starters, they had let far more physical play go without a whistle. It was a foul, but a lot of stuff was a foul in that game, and wasn't whistled. It was Jokić's fourth foul, so he had to play safe the rest of the game. But more importantly, for some reason, instead of awarding Team USA one free throw for a four-point play, they gave them the ball back. Devin Booker then hit a three, and just like that, an 11-point game was a five-point game. Serbia would never get their lead back above seven points, and after the two teams traded baskets a few times, the US went on a run and put the game away. I have significant doubts that it would have happened without that six-point sequence. Thanks, refs!

Thank You to ... Steve Kerr

He managed the entire Olympics like a complete jackass. Because his boy bailed him out, he gets to now whitewash the whole thing. But well beyond the unconscionable benching of Jayson Tatum, he managed several of the games poorly. Team USA fell behind 17 points to Serbia specifically because he was trying to play switch-everything defense with guys who hadn't played together long enough to know each other's defensive rhythms.

Not only were guards late on rotations, but it left the three centers – Embiid, Bam Adebayo, and Anthony Davis – exposed on the perimeter. Bam – who doesn't often defend three-point shooters for the Heat – was torched a couple of times. It wasn't isolated to the Serbia game either. Anthony Davis was burned multiple times on threes in the first half of the Gold Medal game. I don't blame Adebayo or Davis – it's not in their job description to cover threes. Embiid wasn't even bothering in the first three quarters of the Serbia game, but something possessed him in the fourth quarter and he jumped out on guys and disrupted their rhythm. Still, asking guys who have played seven games together to switch on defense was far from the optimal path forward. Kerr did it to protect his boy. The gamble paid off in the end, because Steph's offense ended up being better than his defense was bad, but the games were a lot more interesting than they needed to be.

I say thank you for two reasons. One, he absolutely lit a fire under Jayson Tatum. Kerr fucked around, and the rest of the NBA is absolutely going to find out this fall.

Second, his substitution patterns and, let's be frank, bullshit explanations (first it was a "matchup" thing, then it was a "numbers" thing. First, he felt like an "idiot," then later he was unapologetic. Make up your mind.) for them, completely disqualify him to be the coach in 2028. I don't think he'll want the job anyway. I don't think it's a coincidence that both his and Curry's contracts expire after the 2025-2026 season. Neither person seems likely to be motivated by money to keep running it back long after they can contend for a championship. Maybe they come back for a retirement tour 2026-2027 season, because that is when Draymond Green's contract expires, and it would be sweet to see them retire at the same time. But I don't think Kerr is going to be like Gregg Popovich and try to build up the Warriors up from scratch after that. He's proven both in his treatment of James Wiseman, Moses Moody, and Jonathan Kuminga, and his riding in this tournament of LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry that he has little interest in playing and/or cultivating young players. He only started giving Kuminga real run this year when the dude went public with his complaints. Kerr has certainly earned that right, but the strategy, combined with then talking out of both sides of his mouth when trying to explain away said strategy, will be very unlikely to endear him to the players who might suit up in 2028.

If you're Jaylen Brown, Jalen Brunson, Paulo Banchero, Tyrese Maxey, Chet Holmgren, Donovan Mitchell, or Cooper Flagg – are you really going to sign up for the lack of transparency that Kerr just displayed? To say nothing of Tatum, Tyrese Haliburton, and even Anthony Edwards. He and Tatum were unceremoniously yanked at the end of the third quarter in the Gold Medal game. Edwards committed a turnover because he chose passing to a covered Durant instead of a wide-open Tatum, something that seemed to condemn both players. But Ant had made the prior two buckets for Team USA – the only two buckets they scored in the final 2:30 of the third quarter. You can bet he isn't going to forget that. None of these guys are going to commit to play for a coach like that, and honestly, I think that goes for Erik Spoelstra and Tyronn Lue as well. One of them might stick around – maybe Lue because the games will be in Los Angeles – but my money would be on Team USA having a completely different coaching staff next time around. Kerr made sure of that by turning this into the old guy Olympics.

Thank You to ... The Old Guys

I'm a Gemini, so while all of the above absolutely infuriated me, it was incredibly meaningful to watch LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant play with so much joy for our country. There is just nothing like a LeBron drive to the hoop. You watch him do it and you wonder why can't everyone do that, he makes it look so easy. It isn't easy. There is nothing quite like Curry when he's on a heater. And while we've seen great ISO players before, there is still definitely a unique feeling of helplessness when Durant gets you in the blender. Not only is he probably going to fake you out, but even if you stay with him, he's just going to rise above you anyway (which is why Tatum's domination of him in the 2022 playoffs was such a pivotal experience for him). All three of them together, still slinging the ball, was a sight to behold.

Thank You to ... Jayson Tatum

Speaking of, let's talk about Tatum, because we have to. When the Olympics started, no one really knew what Kerr was going to do with his lineups and rotations, not only because he hadn't spoken about it, but because Kevin Durant hadn't played in the preliminary friendlies, and he was finally ready to play. As the first 10 players came in, and none of them was Tatum, I felt like I was taking crazy pills. How was he not in the game? And then Durant started raining jumpers, and it became clear that Tatum just was not going to play at all.

I can't even imagine how he felt, to be told at the dawn of his second Olympics, that he wasn't going to play. Tatum was a star for Team USA in Tokyo in 2021. Only Durant scored more points. No one hit more three's. In the Gold Medal game, Tatum put in 19 points on 8-for-14 shooting (again, only Durant scored more), grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, and was a game-high +12. He had Olympic bona fides that few on this team had, to say nothing of his NBA accomplishments since, which don't need to be recounted here. Somehow, in 2021, Durant and Tatum were able to play at the same time in the Olympics, but Kerr couldn't figure it out for this one? Sure. It would have been incredibly easy to make LeBron and Booker the starters and have Durant and Tatum sub in for them. Kerr just didn't want to do that, and it was clear to anyone with a pulse that it was personal.

Even when Tatum did play, you could basically see the leash on him. While Joel Embiid, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant were given the freedom to keep shooting even if they weren't hitting, Tatum was not. He was de-emphasized from the offense, and on most possessions wasn't even looked at, not even by his Celtics teammates Jrue Holiday and Derrick White. That to me was the dead giveaway, that the coaches had told him to go stand in the corner and stay there. We could watch hours of video of the Tatum-White pick-and-roll from this season to see how effective it was. This isn't rocket science. There was a clear decision made to take Tatum out of the offense, and unfortunately on the few occasions he did get to shoot, they weren't pretty. Those shots are on him, but only a crazy person would argue that his coaches put him in the best position to succeed.

And yet, Tatum has handled things as well as could be asked. First and foremost was his effort level. In the Gold Medal game, he covered all five positions on the floor, from point guard to center. I would have to go back and double check, but in my first watching, I do not believe that a single French player he covered scored while he was on them. Defense is effort, and Tatum brought it whenever he played. It's not a coincidence in the game that he was benched the team got down by 17 points, and that in the game he played, the team basically had a six- to 11-point lead the entire time. Defensive effort is contagious.

Nevertheless, he didn't play as much as he or anyone else expected throughout the Olympics. And while he didn't shy away from the fact that he wanted to play more, he didn't publicly criticize Kerr or the coaching staff, and he said after the Gold Medal game that the experience wouldn't affect his decision to play or not play in 2028. His humility clearly worked against him in this tournament, but rather than lashing out, he chose to handle things like a professional. I'm sure that was incredibly difficult, and for that I thank him. He could have chosen to be petty, and people would have cheered him on for being petty, but I would much, much, much prefer to root for a person who handled it the way he did.

In August 2036, when he is biting his fifth Gold Medal, he will certainly have had the last laugh, and Steve Kerr's bullshit will be but a footnote.

Thank You to ... Danny Ainge

In "Scarface," Al Pacino famously says "I always tell the truth, even when I lie." Danny Ainge's moves didn't always work out, but the play of Guerschon Yabusele and Evan Fournier was so good in this Olympics that I feel like it vindicated Ainge's decisions to draft and trade for them, respectively. Things didn't work out for them in Boston, but the decisions were sound nonetheless. Daniel Theis too, though I think his time in Boston was much more successful.

Thank You to ... Jrue Holiday and Derrick White

Finally, to the other two Celtics. Low key Holiday and White were jerked around nearly as much as Tatum was. No one really talked about it because they are quiet guys and not treated as stars, but they are, and for the most part, played incredibly basketball when in the game. Holiday, in particular, bailed out the offense multiple times in the Gold Medal game, even when he was on the floor with four far more accomplished scorers.

A 2028 Roster Prediction That Will Almost Certainly Be Wrong

I probably have more thank you's, but this is long enough as is. Since a lot of people are projecting their 2028 Team USA rosters, here's mine (returning players in bold):

• Guards: Anthony Edwards, Devin Booker, Tyrese Haliburton, Tyrese Maxey, Donovan Mitchell
• Forwards: Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Cade Cunningham, Cooper Flagg
• Centers: Bam Adebayo, Chet Holmgren, Evan Mobley

Lot of cuts have to be made to get down to 12. Wild cards:

• Zion Williamson and Jalen Brunson - I don't think either will be healthy enough (Brunson gives me all of the Isaiah Thomas vibes. Sorry, can't shake them. I think he has a short peak. I believe him when he says he wanted to sign his contract now because you never know what could happen in a year.). If Zion is healthy, he probably bumps out Maxey or Mitchell to give the team more size, but that's a monster-sized "if." Even healthy, I could see Brunson being left off, because his grind-it-out style is not as FIBA friendly. Embiid wasn't effective until he stopped hunting for fouls that weren't coming and attacked Jokić (of course, it helped that Jokić had four fouls when he did).

Guys who will be 34 or older who may want back in because the games are in the US and the travel won't be as hard on them:

• Joel Embiid and Derrick White. If Embiid wants in, I don't think the team will have much of a problem cutting Holmgren or Mobley. But I would be surprised if he is still healthy enough, felt like he had anything to prove, or is as assured of a Gold Medal. I don't think D White has much leverage to force his way back onto the team, but the five guards above all have a lot of lead player energy, so he still may be needed.

Also under consideration:

• Jalen Williams, Scottie Barnes, Brandon Miller, and let's be honest, at least a half dozen players who we aren't even thinking about yet. Haliburton's NBA debut was Dec. 23, 2020, and he didn't even win Rookie of the Year. Now he's a star, and while he didn't play much, he was a worthy member of this Olympic squad. Life moves pretty fast. What I said about size with respect to Zion also holds true for the three guys here. A more well-rounded team has Zion or one of these guys, and one fewer guard, but at the moment, these guys don't have the Q rating to bump off Maxey or Mitchell if they say they want in. Though the NBA is certainly trying to make Barnes a household name. That's why Adam Silver picked him as an All-Star over D White. Not that I'm still bitter about it or anything.