Even after earning Eastern Conference Finals MVP and NBA Finals MVP honors, Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown has a chip on his shoulder.
Brown was surprisingly left off Team USA's roster for the 2024 Paris Olympics despite coming off the best season of his career and an NBA championship. When Kawhi Leonard withdrew from the Olympics on Wednesday, Brown's C's teammate Derrick White was chosen over him as the Los Angeles Clippers star's replacement.
Shortly after USA Basketball announced the addition of White, Brown appeared to react on social media with three raised eyebrow emojis. The post suggests he believes he was "snubbed" from Team USA's roster, and it's a reasonable gripe.
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Perhaps Brown not making the national team will benefit the C's next season. NBC Sports Boston's Celtics Insider Chris Forsberg believes the three-time All-Star will enter the 2024-25 campaign with even more motivation.
"I think that Celtics brass are probably frustrated that Jaylen didn't get this nod. They understand how much effort he's put in, how much he meant to this title, and he should have been rewarded by being part of this Paris group," Forsberg said on Wednesday's Early Edition.
"He just got Eastern Conference Final MVP, Finals MVP. He starts joking about how he's finally starting to win some of these things, and just when you start thinking like, 'All right, maybe things are all going his way,' he finds this little extra prod of motivation that is gonna fuel him throughout this summer.
"He doesn't need much. It could have been one headline, one anything, but this in particular -- and you can't tell me every single time he goes up against another guy on Team USA who isn't his teammate, he is not gonna be supremely motivated. When he sees Devin Booker or Tyrese Halliburton or guys that he probably thinks -- and might be rightfully so -- he is better than in this league, you are going to get a supremely motivated Jaylen Brown. One player who was already motivated regardless because of everything that's gone against him.
"I cannot wait for 2024-25 Jaylen Brown. The only regret is it's gonna take like three months before we actually get a game where he can go take out some of that frustration. I need basketball right now so Jaylen can go work off some of this frustration."
Brown has gotten used to being overlooked throughout his eight-year NBA career. He expressed that after being crowned the Eastern Conference Finals MVP.
"I wasn't expecting it at all," Brown said after winning the award. "I don't ever win s--t."
Although he finally earned the recognition he deserved, watching Team USA this summer instead of playing may light a new fire under him going forward.
Brown's Celtics teammates White, Jayson Tatum, and Jrue Holiday will take the court for the first game of the Team USA Showcase on Wednesday night vs. Canada. Their first game in Paris is scheduled for July 28 against Serbia.