Team USA notched its second straight win in the 2024 Summer Olympics competition on Wednesday, but it did so without utilizing one of its marquee stars.
During the squad’s 103-86 victory over South Sudan, 76ers center Joel Embiid did not play the entirety of the game due to the decision of head coach Steve Kerr.
The Warriors head coach told reporters postgame that he seemed to prefer speedier options against a quicker opponent.
Without Embiid, the Americans turned to the frontcourt rotation of Anthony Davis — who started and scored eight points in 19 minutes — and Bam Adebayo — who poured in a team-high 18 points and seven rebounds in 21 minutes off the bench.
Other top contributions for Team USA included 14 points for Kevin Durant, 13 for Anthony Edwards and 12 for LeBron James as the roster notched its second straight win by 16 or more points.
In his first official Olympic game on Sunday, Embiid started and scored four points in just over 11 minutes of action.
NBA fans seemed to unite around the premise of the polarizing Embiid not seeing the floor, including sharing clips of people cleaning courts and making jokes that the two-time scoring champ needed to better dole out water.
The most notable addition to the starting lineup was Celtics star Jayson Tatum, who scored just four points in 17 minutes but was noticeably absent during the team’s first game against Serbia.
Much like with Tatum, Kerr seems to be mirroring the path to playing time for another Eastern Conference standout.
The four-time NBA champion coach told the media that Team USA’s starting lineup against Puerto Rico will include Embiid, James, Steph Curry, Jrue Holiday and Devin Booker.
Embiid, 30, won the 2022-23 MVP but played in only 39 games last year as he battled lingering knee injuries.
Nonetheless, Embiid made his seventh All-Star team and posted 34.7 points, 11 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 1.7 blocks and 1.2 steals per game.
Without Embiid for much of the season, the Sixers went 47-35 before losing to the Knicks in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Team USA resumes play from Paris on Saturday at 11:15 a.m. ET against Puerto Rico in its final group-stage game.
