Jaylen Brown has made it clear that he is not happy about being left off the Team USA roster, and he was not quite ready to let things go at the start of the Olympic tournament.
Right around the time Team USA’s game against Serbia tipped off on Sunday, Brown took to social media to call out USA Basketball managing director Grant Hill. The Boston Celtics star said he thought some comments Hill recently made were “disappointing.”
“grant hill calling me a conspiracy theorist is disappointing I’ve been a VP since I was 21 years old I have a great understanding,” Brown wrote on X.
grant hill calling me a conspiracy theorist is disappointing I’ve been a VP since I was 21 years old I have a great understanding
— Jaylen Brown (@FCHWPO) July 28, 2024
Brown, who has been the vice president of the NBA Players Association since 2018, was referring to an interview Hill had with “The Dan Patrick Show” earlier this week. Brown has said that Nike was the driving force behind him not being chosen for Team USA, especially when Derrick White replaced Kawhi Leonard on the time. Hill said earlier in the month that Team USA is “proud of our partners” but that the roster was constructed with only basketball in mind.
The NBA legend reiterated that while speaking with Patrick on Friday.
“I spoke to (Brown’s) agent. I don’t know if that was before or after things went out on Twitter,” Hill said, as transcribed by Justin Leger of NBC Sports Boston. “But yeah, I think this idea that there’s a conspiracy theory — I always love a good conspiracy theory, but it was really truly a basketball decision and these are tough decisions. But having gone through this with the FIBA competition, you want to find the right balance and the right pieces on the court that we needed.”
Team USA Men's Basketball Managing Director Grant Hill details the decision to replace Kahwi Leonard with Derrick White instead of Jaylen Brown. pic.twitter.com/bCIphs3udn
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) July 26, 2024
Brown believes Nike and Team USA conspired against him because of the way Brown has acted toward the apparel juggernaut in the past. The only way that would not be a conspiracy theory is if Brown knows for a fact that it is true, which he may feel that he does.
Brown has directed multiple social media messages at Nike in recent weeks and really given Hill no choice but to response on behalf of Team USA.
