Cal Basketball: Can Jaylen Brown Land a Spot on the U.S. Olympic Team Roster?
Former Cal standout and two-time NBA All-Star Jaylen Brown is among 41 players in the pool of candidates for the U.S. team pursuing a fifth consecutive gold medal this summer at the Paris Olympics.
The list features most of the elite American player in the NBA and Brown, 27, will face a serious challenge to make the cut for the 12-man roster.
The 6-foot-6 guard, who played one season at Cal in 2015-16, is averaging 23.1 points for a Boston Celtics team whose 34-10 record is the best in the NBA.
Brown told reporters this week he believes he's playing the best basketball of his career.
“I’m a firm believer in myself,” Brown said after scoring 34 points on Monday night. “I feel like I get better every single year and I’m going to continue to get better. Whatever criticism, from whatever fans, your own fans or whoever else fans, I really don’t care. I’m just going to keep improving until I die.”
A year ago, Brown averaged a career-best 26.6 points on a Boston team that lost to Miami in the Eastern Conference finals. He was a second-team All-NBA selection, which made him eligible to receive a record contract extension last summer worth $304 million over five seasons.
In 2021-22, Brown produced 23.6 points per game as the Celtics reached the NBA Finals before losing to the Golden State Warriors in a seven-game series.
Brown's edge over some of his competition for a spot the Olympic roster may be his willingness and ability to play defense.
“There’s two sides to the ball, so being able to apply pressure on both, you have to be at a certain level of shape to be able to do that,” Brown told reporters. “You want to put an emphasis on attacking and being aggressive on both sides of the ball.”
He said he welcomes being asked to defend the opposition's top player.
“I think it’s normalized now,” Brown said. “I’ve been doing it all season. I’ve been guarding the best players on pretty much every single team night in and night out, so I think it’s just normal at this point.”
Brown and Jayson Tatum, also included in the 41-player pool, made NBA history of sorts Monday night when they became the first teammates to both score 30 points with two-plus blocks and zero turnovers in the same game.
Cal has a legacy of participation on the U.S. Olympic basketball team. Center Darrall Imhoff played for retiring Cal coach Pete Newell at the 1960 Rome Olympics, Jason Kidd won gold medals in 2000 and 2008, and Shareef Abdur-Rahim joined him on the 2000 squad.
The Warriors’ Steve Kerr will coach the U.S. team, which could have its roster set by sometime in May — before the end of the NBA playoffs.
Big names who are in the U.S. pool include Stephen Curry, who has never played in the Olympics, LeBron James, who hasn’t been on the U.S. team since 2012 and Joel Embiid, who scored 70 points for the 76ers on Monday night. Embed was born in Cameroon but because a U.S. citizen two years ago.
Others who will be considered include three-time gold medalist Kevin Durant, Jimmy Butler, Paul George, Damian Lillard, Donovan Mitchell, Kyrie Irving, Devin Booker, Jayson Tatum, James Harden and Anthony Davis. Young talent in the mix includes De’Aaron Fox, Chet Holmgren, Anthony Edwards and Tyrese Haliburton.
The Olympics begin on July 27. Team USA announced a game against Canada in Las Vegas on July 10 and a tuneup in London against South Sudan on July 20.
Cover photo of the Celtics' Jaylen Brown working against Damian Lillard by Benny Sieu, USA Today
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo
