Team USA was forced to find a last-minute replacement when it was confirmed that Kawhi Leonard will no longer play in the upcoming Paris Olympics. Derrick White was called up to take his spot, which means that there will be three Boston Celtics that can win another piece of silverware this summer.
Jaylen Brown is not one of them, so he reacted with a cryptic response right after getting passed up, even insinuating that Nike, Team USA’s official outfitter, may have something to do with him being left off the squad.
“@nike this what we doing?” Brown posted in his X (formerly known as Twitter).
The Boston Celtics forward is a sneaker free agent, and he had a previous beef with Nike when founder Phil Knight criticized his friend Kyrie Irving when Irving was suspended by the NBA in 2022.
“Since when did Nike care about ethics?” Brown wrote.
Grant Hill’s reason why he chose Derrick White over Jaylen Brown for Team USA
Team USA managing director Grant Hill said the decision to choose Derrick White to replace Kawhi Leonard was made for basketball-related purposes, not because of their existing relationship with Nike.
“For a good portion of my career. I wore Fila. That was supposed to be a joke. We’re proud of our partners obviously. You have to build a team. And one of the hardest things is leaving people off the roster that I’m a fan of, that I look forward to watching throughout the season, throughout the playoffs,” Hill said via Ben Golliver of The Washington Post.
Jaylen Brown may be a superior player to Derrick White. But Team USA might’ve felt the need to add a solid utility player rather than another star with so much talent already at their disposal.
