USA HC Kerr Reacts to Criticism on Social Media: 'Everything Becomes so Dramatic'

Steve Kerr isn't allowing social media criticism to alter his Team USA plans.

The USA head coach said the crafting of narratives on social media has made everything too "dramatic" and is not in line with the tenor of the locker room.

"I think the NBA is so popular worldwide and the regular season is kind of a soap opera," Kerr told reporters. "And so we understand that, and social media takes over and everything becomes so dramatic. I think we need to give these guys more credit. They're here to win a gold medal. They're pros. They're committed to each other. I mean, these guys are all champions, All-Stars, Hall of Famers, however you want to put it. So the whole thing is, are we committed to the goal? That's it.

"I always tell our guys with the (Golden State) Warriors, the reason they pay us a lot of money is there is so much interest worldwide in what we do. And so you can't have it both ways. You can't accept your salary and then get mad at social media or get mad at all the coverage."The beauty of the Olympics is none of that crap matters. And I know everyone's going to write about it, but none of that crap matters. We're just trying to win every game and win a gold medal, and it's an incredibly pure feeling and the guys are committed to each other and they're not going to worry about any of that."

Kerr faced a firestorm of criticism after he did not play Jayson Tatum in Team USA's opening win over Serbia. Tatum wound up starting in Wednesday's win over South Sudan, with Joel Embiid being the superstar who became the odd man out.

It's clear Kerr has his core seven or eight players, with the remainder of the roster shuffling in and out based on matchups and game situations. Tatum was a better fit against South Sudan, so he played. Embiid was a better fit against Serbia, so he started.

The dramatics and memeification of players receiving DNPs only matters if the jokes start eroding locker-room trust. Maybe Kerr will receive pushback from players not receiving minutes if the U.S. suffers a defeat or has a closer-than-expected call.

That said, after a pair of strong double-digit wins to start the Olympics, it's impossible to argue against the results.