Image Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images and Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

“Just not good enough for Olympics” – Charles Barkley takes a dig at Steve Kerr following Jayson Tatum’s inclusion in All-Star team

Charles Barkley couldn’t resist throwing a jab at Kerr over Tatum's Olympic benching.

Image Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images and Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

The NBA announced its 2025 All-Star Game starters on Thursday, with Jayson Tatum earning his sixth All-Star selection. Tatum had a stellar 2023-24 season, averaging 26.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 4.9 assists in 74 games. While he lost the Finals MVP trophy to Jaylen Brown, his performance was crucial in leading the Boston Celtics to their record 18th NBA Championship.

However, despite his stellar season, Tatum’s role with Team USA during the 2024 Paris Olympics was limited. The Celtics forward was benched twice in crucial games against Serbia, and played just 11 minutes in the gold medal game against France. Team USA head coach Steve Kerr’s decision to bench Tatum at that time didn’t sit well with fans and pundits.

This week, after the Boston Celtics handed the Kerr’s Golden State Warriors an embarrassing 125-85 loss on Monday, Tatum seemed to avoid Kerr while chatting with Stephen Curry.

But during the All-Star Game live announcement on TNT on Thursday, Charles Barkley couldn’t resist throwing a jab at Kerr over Tatum’s Olympic benching.

“Great player,” Barkley said of Tatum, “Just not great enough to play in the Olympics. One of the five best players in the East but not good enough to represent his country!”

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— CyrusTheVirus (@CyrusTheVirusP) January 24, 2025

The 2025 NBA All-Star Games will be played from Feb 14-16 at Chase Center, San Francisco.

Also Read:

2025 East NBA All-Star starters:

Jalen Brunson, Donovan Mitchell, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum, Karl-Anthony Towns

2025 West NBA All-Star starters:

Stephen Curry, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Nikola Jokic

Charles Barkley

Jayson Tatum

Steve Kerr

Swati Bhatia

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I work as a content strategist, specializing in creating engaging content about the NBA, WNBA, and MLB. My main focus is on writing breaking news updates, research-based articles, and covering trending topics. Right now, I’m leading the content team for the NBA, WNBA, and MLB categories at Playoffs English.