As was the case with Jayson Tatum in their opening game against Serbia, another star didn’t see a minute on the
court during Team USA’s second win of the 2024 Paris Olympics on Wednesday. So, what’s up with that?
Steve Kerr’s rotation choices claim Joel Embiid this time
Heading into Wednesday’s game between Team USA and South Sudan there was much debate about whether the
Americans would be able to cope. This after all was a team that they struggled to beat in a warm-up game just prior to the
start of the Olympics, winning by a point. Ultimately, there were no such problems during what turned out to be a solid 103-
86 win over the Africans, thereby giving the Americans a commanding position in the group.
There were, however, a few talking points. For starters, we saw the return of forward Jayson Tatum who was included in the starting lineup for Wednesday’s
game after not logging a single minute during the win over Serbia last Sunday. What that meant, is that someone had to
take a turn on the bench, and that someone was Joel Embiid which brings us to the second talking point: Embiid
didn’t see a single minute of court time in Wednesday’s win. Understandably, head coach Steve Kerr was questioned
post-game about why the Philadelphia 76ers star remained unused throughout the game.
something that the Americans struggled to deal with when they met the African
outfit in that above-mentioned pre-Olympic contest. To be fair, when we consider the size and physicality of
Serbia – Team USA’s first opponent – it begins to make sense that Tatum was rotated out, though it should be said that
Embiid only played 11 minutes in that game, scoring four points and committing three early personal fouls.
Nonetheless, Kerr did go on to state that Embiid will not only get playing time on Saturday when the team faces Puerto
Rico, but he will be back in the starting lineup alongside LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Devin Booker, and guard Jrue
Holiday which is incidentally, the same starting lineup that he went with against Serbia.
