Celtics legend unleashes furious rant at Steve Kerr over Jayson Tatum benching

Head coach Steve Kerr benched Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum for the second time in the 2024 Olympics in Team USA’s semifinal win over Serbia. It caused quite a stir, as former and current players alike expressed their displeasure about the decision

Bob Cousy, a Hall-of-Famer and Celtics legend, tore Kerr a new one in a fiery rant. He called the decision “an embarrassment” in a conversation with Dan Shaughnessy of The Boston Globe.

“This isn’t just a snub,” Cousy said. “This is an embarrassment for that poor kid all over the [expletive] world. The Olympics have gotten that big. Everyone’s going to think that there’s something wrong this this kid.”

Bob Cousy ripped Steve Kerr to shreds for benching Jayson Tatum on Team USA

That’s not where the rant ended, though. Cousy went on to list all of Tatum’s recent accomplishments while reaming Kerr for his choice to bench the three-time All-NBA First Team forward.

“I don’t know Steve Kerr, and everything I’ve ever heard about him has been positive,” Cousy said. “But there’s such a difference between playing a guy for a few minutes as opposed to not playing him at all. And now he has doubled down on it. 

“Tatum is on the cover of Sports Illustrated this month. Any experts that I’ve read lately have chosen him in the top five, and sometimes No. 1 in the [expletive] world. Now Kerr is telling the world that he doesn’t agree. In a 40-minute game, if you can’t find five minutes to play somebody on the team without hurting yourself.”

Not only did Tatum just win a championship with the Celtics, but he’s also been a consistent face on All-Star and All-NBA teams for the past five years. He has also won a gold medal with Team USA in 2020.

Weirdly enough, Tatum has started some games in this year’s Olympics, too. There’s no reason he can’t get some minutes in the other games, and Cousy is very unhappy with Kerr’s decision to bench him.

Cousy, a legend in his own right, took it upon himself to defend the current Celtics star, and he hopes some other Bostonians will do the same.

“Somebody from Boston should stand up for this kid,” Cousy said. “In my judgment, this is going out of your way to embarrass one of your players.”