Boston Celtics star forward Jaylen Brown seems to have strong credentials to be part of Team USA. But he's not, and he appears to believe that Nike is somehow responsible for why it's Derrick White who's been called upon to replace Los Angeles Clippers star Kawhi Leonard on the Paris-bound squad instead of him.
On Monday, Brown fielded some questions from the media about the controversial and cryptic post on social media that he shared on X (the social media platform formerly known as Twitter) right after it was made known that White would be replacing Leonard.
Rather than walking back on his Nike remark, the Celtics star doubled down on his initial stance about Nike having a hand in his exclusion from Team USA.
“I do for sure, I got more stuff to come with that,” Brown said when asked about whether he thinks Nike had a role in that decision, per Bobby Manning of Celtics on CLNS. “But as of now I'm not going to comment on it,” Brown added.
Despite the snub, Brown said that he does not hold resentment toward anyone who's on Team USA's roster.
“I wasn’t surprised. I was happy for these guys. I love to have so many of our guys on there,” Brown said, per Noa Dalzell of SB Nation.
Brown's issue can be said to be with Nike and Nike alone. If anything, he even said he reached out to White to assure his Celtics teammate that he's got a problem with him getting a Team USA spot.
“I called Derrick right away just to make sure there’s no confusion,” Brown told reporters while in Las Vegas to catch Boston and the Los Angeles Lakers meet in an NBA Summer League game (h/t Celtics on CLNS).
While clearly disappointed that he was not selected to join Jayson Tatum and company in France, Brown said that he'll use the frustration as motivational fuel.
“Absolutely. I'm super fired up. I got all the motivation in the world. I love it, honestly,” Brown responded when asked if the snub motivates him (h/t Dalzell).
Celtics star Jaylen Brown's case for Team USA inclusion
It is fair to wonder why Jaylen Brown was left off Team USA, especially when considering the fact that he played a huge role in the successful title run of Boston in the recent NBA Playoffs. He was the best player on the best team on the biggest stage of the postseason, and he's got the NBA Finals MVP award to prove it. Tatum, White, and Jrue Holiday all came up huge in the playoffs for Boston but Brown has a very strong case that he's the best of the four during the entire playoff run.
In the five-game NBA Finals series against Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks, Brown averaged 20.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 1.6 steals.
One could make the argument that Brown would have provided more of what Leonard could bring to the table than White for Team USA as they pretty much play the same position. Plus, there was already an incredible depth in the guard positions of Team USA even before White joined, with the likes of Stephen Curry, Devin Booker, Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton, and Holiday on the roster.
In any case, with or without Brown in the United States fold, the No. 1 ranked team in the world is still expected to dominate the competition and take home the gold.
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