Is Jaylen Brown Blaming Nike for His Olympic Snub?

When Kawhi Leonard announced he would withdraw from Team USA yesterday, an obvious choice for his replacement was Jaylen Brown, considering he just won the NBA Championship with the Boston Celtics while being named Conference Finals and Finals MVP. Instead, that roster spot went to Brown's teammate Derrick White, and it appears he took exception to the selection.

Shortly after Team USA confirmed on social media yesterday that White will participate in the 2024 Paris Olympics this summer, Brown tweeted three monocle emojis. A few hours later, he tweeted at Nike, saying, "This what we doing?" seemingly blaming the Swoosh for being snubbed from the team. It's worth mentioning that Nike is the U.S. National Team's official sponsor, which allows the Swoosh to be the only sportswear brand to feature its logos in USA Basketball media.

All of this is pure speculation at the moment, but Brown has been openly critical of Nike in recent years, including when the brand dropped Kyrie Irving as an endorsee in 2022 after the Dallas Mavericks guard posted a link to an antisemitic film on social media.

Nike's involvement in Olympic footwear controversy isn't anything new. In 1982, Michael Jordan infamously draped the American flag over the Reebok logo on the shoulder of his warmup. Back in 2008, the Adidas-sponsored Dwight Howard was also positioned in the Redeem Team photo with his sneakers hidden behind coach Mike Krzyzewski’s shoes. And in 2016, the footwear for non-Nike-sponsored athletes Harrison Barnes, Kyle Lowry, and Klay Thompson was also hidden in the team photo (seen below).

Nike did not respond to a request for comment on Brown being omitted from this year's Olympics team.

UPDATE (07/11): Brown appears to have let off another shot at Nike on X, with his latest tweet that reads "I'm not afraid of you or your resources." As previously noted, there's no confirmation that this tweet is directed towards Nike.