The Jaylen Brown-USA Basketball saga continued Sunday ahead of the men's national team's 2024 Paris Olympics opener vs. Serbia.
The Boston Celtics star hasn't shied away from voicing his displeasure with being left off Team USA's roster. He took to social media with cryptic posts after C's teammate Derrick White was chosen over him as Kawhi Leonard's replacement, including an allusion to Nike playing a role in his omission.
Team USA's managing director Grant Hill emphasized on The Dan Patrick Show that picking White over Brown was purely a "basketball decision."
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"I spoke to (Brown's) agent. I don't know if that was before or after things went out on Twitter," Hill said. "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."
The "conspiracy theory" remark didn't sit well with Brown, who responded Sunday 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," he wrote.
Brown is referring to his role as vice president of the NBA Players Association. He became the youngest elected vice president in 2018, his third season in the league.
The three-time All-Star's gripe with Team USA is understandable. He's coming off the best season of his eight-year career and propelled Boston to its 18th championship as MVP of the Eastern Conference Finals and NBA Finals. And although Hill's reason for picking White was wanting a great point-of-attack defender on guards, Brown excelled in that role throughout the 2023-24 campaign including in the Finals against Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic.
At this point, all Brown can do is use his omission as motivation that can help the C's repeat as champs next season. Between his Team USA, All-NBA, and All-Defense snubs, there's little doubt he'll have a chip on his shoulder.
USA Basketball's quest for a gold medal will begin at 11:15 a.m. ET Sunday against Serbia.
