Warriors coach Steve Kerr knows Boston Celtics fans will try to make his life miserable after Jayson Tatum’s limited playing time with Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
That specifically will be the case when Golden State visits TD Garden on Nov. 6 during the 2024-25 NBA season, but Kerr isn’t going to lose sleep over it.
“I think they’re going to be all over me,” Kerr told NBA.com’s Steve Aschburner, laughing. “That’s fine.”
Despite leading Team USA to an Olympic gold medal this summer, Kerr became a lightning rod for criticism after Tatum’s infrequent minutes, including a DNP in the semifinal against Serbia.
Under the four-time NBA-champion coach, Tatum ranked 10th on the team in points per game (5.3) on just 41.2-percent shooting from the field.
That was only more than Derrick White and Tyrese Haliburton on the USA roster, despite the superstar forward coming off of an NBA championship season with the Celtics in 2024.
Even then, Kerr admitted that Tatum, like Haliburton and White, were good sports about their limited role in Paris.
“Those guys were all great,” Kerr told Aschburner. “Jayson handled things so well. Then obviously it became a media subject, but he couldn’t have handled it better. Tyrese, same thing. Every game was different. And we talked about that from the first night – 12 superstars and probably only nine can play consistent minutes.
“They handled themselves really professionally and pulled for each other. I couldn’t be prouder of them all.”
Though Kerr remains level headed when it comes to the heckling that might be awaiting him in Boston, perhaps Steph Curry and Co. can deliver on the court and help silence the Celtics crowd.
