It has been a busy past few days for Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown. Following Kawhi Leonard's withdrawal from Team USA's 2024 Paris Olympics roster, Brown became a popular suggestion to take the Los Angeles Clippers star's spot. However, Team USA management decided to enlist the services of Derrick White instead, sparking a wave of discontent from Brown as evidenced by his social media activity.
Brown, in the aftermath of the announcement of White's inclusion in the Team USA roster, tweeted a few cryptic emojis and he even went as far as to blame Nike for his exclusion. Nonetheless, it seems as though all of that is a thing of the past for the Celtics star. The 2024 NBA Finals MVP pulled up confidently during the 2024 ESPYS on Thursday night with his significant other Kysre Gondrezick, and he couldn't turn his attention towards anything or anyone else but his partner amid some national team-related questions from Cam Newton.
“I ain't really got no comment. I'm with my beautiful date tonight,” Brown said, via ClutchPoints Twitter (X).
Indeed, Jaylen Brown got nothing to fret about, especially after the incredible season he just had with the Celtics. Sure, being excluded from one of Team USA's most stacked rosters in years will feel like a bit of a slight, but nothing can ever take away from him the fact that he won both the Eastern Conference Finals MVP and the 2024 NBA Finals MVP — outshining his teammate Jayson Tatum, who's part of the Olympic roster, in the process.
And now, Brown's personal life appears to be catching up to his basketball career; he appears to be as happy as ever with Kysre Gondrezick, a current WNBA free agent, and long may this continue for the beautiful couple.
Jaylen Brown wins big in the ESPYS
Jaylen Brown wasn't just part of the audience during the 2024 ESPYS. The Celtics star went out there and claimed the Best Championship Performance award for the way he emerged as the best player of a deep Boston team that defeated the Dallas Mavericks in five games during the 2024 NBA Finals.
Brown had been inconsistent in the past, but the 2024 NBA playoffs was an all-out celebration of who he has become as a player. He became the Celtics' rock, a player that the team could rely on night-in, night-out, with Jayson Tatum being susceptible to poor shooting nights.
The 27-year-old wing managed to stand out amid more of a balanced effort from the Celtics in the 2024 NBA Finals, averaging 20.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 5.0 assists. He also rose to the occasion, as he was one of the main defenders tasked to slow down Luka Doncic, and it's his (and Tatum's) relentlessness in attacking the basket that broke down the Mavericks defense on plenty of occasions.
With Brown being right in the middle of the prime years of his career, he is certainly nowhere close to being done accomplishing everything there is to accomplish in his NBA career. But now, the next step for him is to warrant inclusion in Team USA, with, hopefully, his social media activity not deterring managing director Grant Hill from considering him for the 2027 FIBA World Cup.
Can the Celtics star get Team USA redemption?
Representing one's country in any international sports competition is one of the greatest honors there is. Alas, Jaylen Brown wasn't exactly the player we know him now as when he made the Team USA roster in 2019. Brown was only entering his fourth season in the NBA, and at that time, there were plenty of questions surrounding his efficiency and viability as a lead star on a contending team.
With Team USA fielding one of their weakest rosters in recent memory, they finished in seventh place during the 2019 FIBA World Cup — a far cry from the program's lofty expectations. Thus, it's not too difficult to see why Brown, aside from the honor of representing the country, would desperately want to re-join the team.
The good news for Jaylen Brown is that a few of the stars who made the Team USA roster for the 2024 Paris Olympics are getting old; Stephen Curry, LeBron James, and Kevin Durant are unlikely to be part of the team that competes for the 2027 FIBA World Cup crown now that they're in their late 30s.
These openings should pave the way for Jaylen Brown to make the team in the future, as long as Brown hasn't burned those bridges yet. A delay in the opportunity doesn't mean a complete denial, and all the Celtics star has to do is be patient.
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