Team USA head coach Steve Kerr has been somewhat under fire of late. In particular, questions have risen about his decision to start Joel Embiid over the likes of Anthony Davis and Bam Adebayo.
On Wednesday, the Americans took care of business against Nikola Jokic and Serbia, 105-79, with Embiid once again drawing the start. Amid the criticism being thrown in the direction of the Philadelphia 76ers big man, it appears that Kerr has chosen to ignore the outside noise.
Team USA News: Steve Kerr Names Joel Embiid as Part of Big 3
LeBron James and Stephen Curry are the two central figures of Team USA — a notion that Kerr himself won’t argue with. In fact, not too many fans out there, if any, will contest this fact.
What’s a bit more contentious, however, is Kerr’s third member of the national squad’s Big 3. According to the Golden State Warriors shot-caller, that honor belongs to Embiid.
“Yeah, I like those three guys in the starting lineup,” Kerr said of LeBron, Curry, and Embiid. “We’ve been looking at other guys around them and we obviously have a lot of great options, but I do like those three guys.”
Kerr has proven throughout Team USA’s first few tune-up games that he’s happy to roll with LeBron, Steph, and Embiid as the anchors of his starting unit. It is also clear that he won’t be changing this up anytime soon — despite fans and experts alike urging him to do so.
