Jaylen Brown says he ‘wasn’t surprised’ by Team USA snub, believes Nike influenced decision

LAS VEGAS — Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown said he “wasn’t surprised” by USA Basketball’s decision to pass on adding him to the U.S. squad ahead of the Paris Olympics in place of Kawhi Leonard, adding that he thinks Nike — a key sponsor of USA Basketball — was involved with him not making the team.

“I do for sure,” Brown, the 2024 NBA Finals MVP, said Monday night when asked if he believes the company influenced the decision. “There will be more stuff to come with that. As of now, I’m not gonna comment on it.”

Jaylen Brown on not making Team USA: “I wasn’t surprised, but my reaction was that I was happy for D White. It’s dope to have so much of our guys on there, so I was happy for those guys. But I wasn’t surprised.” pic.twitter.com/UcL9XAhhOr

— Jared Weiss (@JaredWeissNBA) July 16, 2024

Team USA announced last week that Brown’s Celtics teammate Derrick White would replace Leonard, who has been battling chronic knee soreness and inflammation for months.

Brown previously suggested on X that Nike prevented him from being added to the team. Brown is not a Nike-sponsored athlete, while White is.

Brown — who attended the Celtics’ Summer League game against the Los Angeles Lakers with Kysre Gondrezick and her former Chicago Sky teammate Angel Reese on Monday in Las Vegas — expressed his support of White.

“I wasn’t surprised,” Brown said about the Team USA decision. “But my reaction was that I was happy for him. It’s dope to have so (many) of our guys on there, so I was happy for those guys. But I wasn’t surprised.”

Brown has been criticizing Nike for several years, dating back to an X post in November 2022 that said, “Since when did Nike care about ethics?”

That post was in response to a report that Nike co-founder Phil Knight said Kyrie Irving “stepped over the line” when Irving shared a link to an antisemitic film. Nike terminated Irving’s endorsement deal, even though he had one of the company’s most popular signature shoes.

Brown originally signed to Adidas when he entered the NBA, then he became a sneaker free agent and began wearing various Nike shoes with the swoosh logo removed.

A message to Nike on Monday night was not immediately returned.

While Brown’s frustrations appeared to be aimed at Team USA and Nike, he did not mention in his earlier posts and interviews that his teammate was the one who received the honor. Brown was asked Monday whether he reached out to White since he did not congratulate his teammate publicly.

“I called Derrick right away,” he said. “Just to make sure there’s no confusion, my love for you and all of that. He knew that. Me and D-White are good.”

Brown also said he was focused on the Celtics’ season ahead after coming off their 2024 NBA championship, saying, “Right when that burden gets alleviated, you get more motivation to follow it.”

“For me, it’s back to ground one,” Brown said. “My mindset is (the) championship is over now. Now, we gotta get back to work.”

Grant Hill, the managing director of the U.S. men’s national team, previously addressed the decision to add White to the roster, saying, “One of the many things that I really love about Derrick, and particularly with this team, is I don’t feel like his role changes much with our team from what he does with the Celtics.”

“He plays alongside two incredibly great young players, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum (in Boston). … To have someone who can come in and play off guys, be complementary to some others, but then also stand out and be a dynamite defensive player, knock down shots, it just impacts winning,” Hill said.

Hill did not say specifically why White was chosen over Brown, but he said, “The responsibility that I have is to put together a team and a team that complements each other, a team that fits a team that will, give us the best opportunity for success.”

“And, so, you know, whatever theories that might be out there, they’re just that,” 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 have been an All-Star. He averaged a career-high 15.2 points and shot nearly 40 percent from 3 for the Celtics, and was named a second-team All-Defense player.

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