Jaylen Brown Says He 'Wasn't Surprised' by Team USA Snub, 'Happy' for Derrick White

Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown suggested Monday that he wasn't expecting to be named to the United States Olympic men's basketball team.

Speaking to Jared Weiss of The Athletic, Brown offered congratulations to Derrick White and his other Celtics teammates who were chosen for Team USA, but made it clear that he wasn't taken aback by USA Basketball's decision to pass him over:

"I wasn't surprised, but my reaction was that I was happy for D. White," Brown said. "It's dope to have so much of our guys on there, so I was happy for those guys. But I wasn't surprised."

White was chosen as the Team USA replacement for Los Angeles Clippers star Kawhi Leonard after USA Basketball seemingly wasn't comfortable with the progress Leonard had made in his recovery from a knee injury suffered during the NBA playoffs.

Two other Celtics players in Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday were also chosen to represent the U.S. at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

It makes sense why Team USA would want three players from the reigning NBA champions on the roster, but Brown's snub is perhaps more surprising to fans than it is himself since he was both the Eastern Conference Finals and NBA Finals MVP.

Per Weiss and Alex Andrejev of The Athletic, Brown expressed his belief that Nike played a role in keeping him off the team, saying: "I do for sure. There will be more stuff to come with that. As of now, I'm not gonna comment on it."

After White was chosen as Leonard's Team USA replacement, Brown made two posts on X in which he seemed to blame Nike for keeping him off the team:

Brown spent his first five NBA seasons as an Adidas athlete, but he has not represented a specific shoe brand since his Adidas contract expired in 2021.

Per Kyle Irving of the Sporting News, Brown has primarily worn Nike's Kobe Bryant shoes since then despite his apparent issues with the company.

In 2022, Brown posted, "Since when did Nike care about ethics?" on X after Nike ended its relationship with Kyrie Irving on the heels of Irving sharing the link for a movie that featured antisemitic rhetoric.

Then, during the 2023-24 season, Brown began wearing Kobes with the Nike swoosh removed from the shoe.

Nike is one of the most influential company in sports, and it was also responsible for creating Team USA's 2024 Olympic uniforms.

Team USA men's managing director Grant Hill responded to Brown's comments, denying that Nike had anything to do with Brown not making the team:

While it is somewhat difficult to explain leaving Brown off the roster after he was named an All-Star for the third time and played a pivotal role in the Celtics' championship win, making a stacked Team USA isn't easy.

Even without a player of Brown's caliber on the squad, Team USA boasts the likes of LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid, Kevin Durant, Anthony Edwards, Tatum and a host of other NBA superstars.

The Americans will begin their quest for a fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal on July 28 when they face Serbia in their Olympic opener.