Jaylen Brown olympic snub not about basketball
Full disclosure, I have never cared about who made the USA Basketball olympic team. The 1992 Dream Team is the only one I ever cared about and arguably the greatest team of all time. There was a significant player left off that team in Isiah Thomas and it was not about basketball reasons. It’s the same situation when it comes to Jaylen Brown as he watched his teammate Derrick White replace Kawhi Leonard after leaving the team with an injury.
Jaylen Brown showed his frustration for not making Team USA calling out Nike, who outfits Team USA and may have had something to do with him being left off the team. Brown has previous beef with Nike dating back to founder Phil Knight’s 2022 criticism of his friend Kyrie Irving when Irving was suspended by the NBA. Brown is a sneaker free agent but had a deal with Adidas in 2021.
Brown being left off team USA has nothing to do with basketball. I can’t sit here and tell you that Brown is not a better option than some players on the team. It’s not the first time this has happened with team USA who commented on the addition of White. “We just felt that we had to pivot,” USA Basketball Men’s National Team managing director Grant Hill said. “Not to get into the particulars in terms of what went into the decision but we just felt it was in our best interest, but also the Clippers and Kawhi’s best interest, to move into a different direction.”
Hill also addressed Brown’s social media post about Nike. “For a good portion of my career, I wore Fila,” Hill said. “That was supposed to be a joke. We’re proud of our partners, obviously. … This is about putting together a team.”
Again, I never cared about who made Team USA, because it’s not about basketball.
