When the U.S. men's basketball team announced on Wednesday morning that Los Angeles Clippers guard Kawhi Leonard was leaving the team to focus on the upcoming NBA season, Jaylen Brown seemed like the likely replacement. Brown, a guard for the Boston Celtics, plays a similar position to Leonard and made his third All-Star team this season, leading his team to the NBA championship and being named Finals MVP.
Instead, the U.S. team selected Brown's teammate Derrick White, who will join fellow Celtics players Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday in completing the 12-man roster for the Paris Olympics later this month.
Naturally, Brown wasn't happy about the decision, and the Celtics star took to social media shortly after the news broke — except he wasn't slamming the U.S. national team, but rather the branding of the small swoosh logo on the team's jerseys.
In a post on X late Wednesday, Brown challenged Nike, one of the U.S.'s biggest sponsors at the Paris Olympics and a longtime partner of USA Basketball, saying, “This is what we do.”
@Nike Is this what we're doing?
— Jaylen Brown (@FCHWPO) July 10, 2024
Unlike some of Team USA's biggest stars, including Kevin Durant, teammate Tatum and LeBron James, whose lifetime contract is estimated at $1 billion, Brown does not have an exclusive contract with Nike. He was signed with Adidas for the first five years of his career but has not signed with another brand since. Over the past three seasons, the guard has often worn shoes from Nike's Kobe Bryant line but has also worn New Balance.
Of course, not everyone on the U.S. team has deals with the Oregon-based apparel company: Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors is signed with Under Armour, and Minnesota Timberwolves rising star Anthony Edwards signed with Adidas this week.
Perhaps even more pertinently, in addition to being a free agent in the footwear market, Brown has been a vocal critic of Nike in the past.
After controversial Dallas Mavericks point guard and former Celtics player Kyrie Irving shared an anti-Semitic video on Twitter while playing for the Brooklyn Nets in 2022, Nike founder Phil Knight said Irving “crossed a line.”
Brown then attacked the company on social media, criticizing Nike's ethics and suggesting the brand was virtue signalling.
Since when does Nike care about ethics? https://t.co/f8t2eY994v
— Jaylen Brown (@FCHWPO) November 10, 2022
More recently, Brown may have once again inspired the Celtics as they make their way to a championship this year. The 27-year-old guard wore a variety of Kobe shoes throughout the season, but the ubiquitous Nike swoosh was a no-no.
Fill in the blanks pic.twitter.com/IzDgXcYjb7
— Jaylen Brown (@FCHWPO) December 26, 2023
White, meanwhile, is coming off arguably his best season since entering the NBA in 2017. The 30-year-old guard averaged 15 points and shot 46 percent from the field last season while helping Boston win the championship.
However, Brown, who plays a similar position, is averaging eight more points per game on a higher shooting percentage (nearly 50%) and is widely regarded as the team's second-best player behind superstar Tatum. The Boston Celtics currently have three players on the 2024 U.S. Olympic team.
Nike did not immediately respond to a request for comment. luck.
Following Brown's latest post about X, US national team director Grant Hill denied that Nike had any involvement in the decision to sign White.
“My responsibility is to put together a team that complements each other, that fits well, that gives us the best chance to be successful,” Hill said. “So whatever theories there are, they're just theories, but that's my responsibility.”
