Guy not being likeable is not the same as not being good at basketball.
Nobody said he’s not good at basketball. He’s a top 10-15 player in the world. But that’s not not good enough to crack the US rotation.
better all around player for the past 3 years than ANT, Bam, Jrue, Booker and DWhite
He’s not better than Ant or Booker, a lot of us knew that and that was decided the last two weeks. He’s certainly not better than LBJ and KD and they absorbed a lot of those wing minutes.
He’s better than White but you could argue the Celtics didn’t really take off until they got Jrue. I’d still say Tatum is better than him but not for what team USA needed.
I actually totally disagree that he's not better than Ant or Booker. He's better than both. Were I starting an NBA team tomorrow, I'd take him over both.
But he's not a better shooter and he's not a better big man or wing fit for Team USA in crunch time than LeBron, Bam, AD, or Durant. He wasn't competing for playing time with White or Booker or Jrue or Ant when it mattered (he was somewhat in opening quarters/exhibitions and such I suppose). He was competing for playing time with LeBron and KD and Bam and AD. He's not as good a fit with LeBron as AD or Bam (or Embiid) and nobody thinks he's better in this format than KD.
At the end of the day, when it mattered, we went to LeBron/Steph/KD with one of AD/Bam/Embiid. If you think another PF/SF is the right 5th guy there, I guess you have a complaint. I would WAY rather have Booker, especially if he's gonna defend his butt off.
Personally, when KD sat, I think Tatum shoulda got in there. But subs for Steph or Booker rightfully needed to be some combos of Ant, Jrue, White. I think the LeBron subs made more sense often as those same guys, but I like Tatum there too if I'm quibbling.