Jaylen Brown Implies Nike Kept Him Off Team USA

Jaylen Brown blamed Nike for keeping him off Team USA's basketball roster for the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Jaylen Brown called out Nike for his Team USA snub. / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Wednesday afternoon was an eventful day for Team USA. Los Angeles Clippers Kawhi Leonard dropped out due to injury, and Boston Celtics forward Derrick White was tapped as the replacement.

White replacing Leonard was a win for Nike and a loss for New Balance. However, no one took more exception to the decision than the reigning NBA Finals MVP. Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown was seemingly unhappy with the selection.

Brown is known for taking cryptic and thinly-veiled shots at Nike on social media. He apparently placed blame on the sportswear brand for keeping him off Team USA's basketball roster which is dominated by Nike athletes.

@nike this what we doing ?

— Jaylen Brown (@FCHWPO) July 10, 2024

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Brown said, "@nike this what we doing?" Like Isiah Thomas' quote from The Last Dance, which was turned into a meme, Brown felt he met the criteria to be selected.

Brown is a sneaker free agent and has used social media to call out Nike for its handling of Kyrie Irving's drama and its business ethics.

Yet, Brown continues to wear Nike sneakers on the court during NBA games with custom colorways to conceal the Swoosh logos. Sometimes, they even include cool misspellings. To be fair, as someone who writes for a living, typos happen to the best of us.

Did Nike keep Jaylen Brown off Team USA’s Olympic team? 🤔

After Derrick White was announced as Kawhi Leonard’s replacement for Team USA in the 2024 Paris Olympics, Jaylen Brown has seemingly placed the blame on Nike for him not receiving an invitation to the team 👀

Since… pic.twitter.com/60Wdns1qWg

— Nice Kicks (@nicekicks) July 10, 2024

Like most of Brown's more pointed social media posts, there is always a level of plausible deniability in how his statements are worded. Nevertheless, it should be awkward between Brown and White in the Celtics' locker room next season.

There should be no shortage if exciting sneaker storylines stemming from the Summer Olympics in Paris. Fans can count on Sports Illustrated for all their sneaker news from the sports world and beyond.

Further Reading: LeBron James debuted an unreleased Nike training shoe before Team USA's game.