Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown said he “wasn’t surprised” by USA Basketball’s decision to pass on adding the 2024 NBA Finals MVP 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 said Monday night in Las Vegas when asked if he believed 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 — 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 D. White. It’s dope to have so (many) of our guys on there, so I was happy for those guys. But I wasn’t surprised.”
“I called Derrick right away,” he added. “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 is a three-time All-Star and was second-team All-NBA in 2023. White was on the 2019 U.S. World Cup team. He is the only player on Team USA never to have been an All-Star. White 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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