LAS VEGAS — Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown said he was “not surprised” by USA Basketball’s decision not to add him to the U.S. roster for the Paris Olympics to replace Kawhi Leonard. He added that he believes Nike, a major sponsor of USA Basketball, had a hand in his omission.
“I definitely do,” Brown, the 2024 NBA Finals MVP, said Monday night in Las Vegas when asked if he thinks the company influenced the decision. “There’s more to it. I’m not going to comment on that right now.”
Jaylen Brown on not making Team USA: “I wasn’t surprised, but my reaction was I was happy for D White. It’s cool to have so many of our guys there, so I was happy for those guys. But I wasn’t surprised.” photo.twitter.com/UcL9XAhhOr
— Jared Weiss (@JaredWeissNBA) July 16, 2024
Team USA announced last week that Browns Celtics teammate Derrick White would replace Leonard. Leonard has been battling chronic knee pain and inflammation for months.
Brown previously suggested on X that Nike blocked him from being added to the team. Brown is not a Nike-sponsored athlete, while White is.
There was no immediate response to a message to Nike on Monday evening.
Brown, who attended the Celtics’ Summer League game against the Los Angeles Lakers in Las Vegas on Monday with Kysre Gondrezick and her former Chicago Sky teammate Angel Reese, expressed his support for White.
“I wasn’t surprised,” Brown said of Team USA’s decision. “But my reaction was I was happy for him. It’s cool to have so many of our guys there, so I was happy for those guys. But I wasn’t surprised.”
Brown has been criticizing Nike for several years, since November 2022, when he posted an X message saying, “Since when does Nike care about ethics?”
That post was in response to a report that Nike co-founder Phil Knight said Kyrie Irving “crossed the line” when Irving shared a link to an anti-Semitic film. Nike ended Irving’s sponsorship deal, even though he had one of the company’s most popular signature shoes.
Brown originally signed with Adidas when he entered the NBA. He then became a sneaker free agent and began wearing various Nike shoes with the swoosh logo removed.
While Brown’s frustrations seemed to be directed at Team USA and Nike, he failed to mention in his previous posts and interviews that his teammate was the one getting the honor. Brown was asked Monday if he had reached out to White, since he had not publicly congratulated his teammate.
“I called Derrick right away,” he said. “Just to make sure there’s no confusion, my love for you and stuff like that. He knew that. D-White and I are good.”
Brown also said he was focused on the Celtics’ upcoming season after winning their 2024 NBA championship. He said, “Once you take that burden off your shoulders, it gives you more motivation to keep going.”
“For me it’s back to basics,” Brown said. “My mindset is the championship is over now. Now we have to get back to work.”
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Grant Hill, the general manager of the U.S. men’s national team, previously spoke out about the decision to add White to the Olympic roster, which also includes Celtics star Jayson Tatum.
“One of the many things I really love about Derrick, and especially with this team, is I don’t feel like his role changes much with our team from what he does with the Celtics,” Hill said. “He’s playing with two incredibly great young players in Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum (in Boston). … Someone who can come in and block guys, complement each other, but also stand out and be a dynamic defensive player, make shots, that’s just going to be an impact on winning.”
Hill did not say specifically why White was chosen over Brown at the time, but said, “The responsibility I have is to put a team together and a team that complements each other, a team that fits a team that gives us the best chance to be successful.”
“And you know, whatever theories are out there, they’re just theories,” Hill said.
Brown is a three-time All-Star and was second-team All-NBA in 2023. Both he and White were on the 2019 U.S. World Cup team.
White is the only player on Team USA never to be an All-Star. He averaged 15.2 points and shot nearly 40 percent from 3 for the Celtics, and was named a second-team All-Defense player.
The U.S. men play Serbia and three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday before wrapping up their pre-Olympic showcase in London. Team USA’s first game at the Paris Olympics is against Serbia on July 28 in Lille, France.
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(Photo: Elsa/Getty Images)