The males’s Olympic basketball group was rocked just a few weeks earlier than Paris with the information Kawhi Leonard was eradicating himself from competitors so he may concentrate on the Clippers this offseason. It left the group with out one among its finest defensive gamers, and in want of a substitute the group introduced that Derrick White would take his place.
It’s a basketball transfer that makes plenty of sense. White offers Team USA much-needed protection of their rotation, and he’s recent off an NBA Finals collection that noticed his capability to restrict Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving as key elements within the Celtics’ win. Despite this one individual didn’t perceive the choice: Celtics teammate Jaylen Brown.
Brown re-ignited his longstanding feud with Nike to counsel that shoe politics had been the explanations for White’s choice, not basketball match. Brown has worn Nikes up to now, however spurned the corporate in the course of the 2024 NBA All-Star Game when he wore two pairs from small manufacturers. There’s additionally a historical past of Brown taking pictures at Nike, as he did in 2022 when the corporate dropped Kyrie Irving.
Brown additionally performed on the adidas circuit as a top-ranked highschool participant arising. It’s Brown’s perception that his determination to not help Nike price him a spot, and there’s not less than a small grain of reality to all this.
Historically Nike has had a contentious relationship with Team USA in the case of non-Nike athletes making the roster. In 2016 the corporate strategically positioned non-Nike athletes at the back of pictures, or lined their footwear so as to give the notion that Team USA was all-Nike. As clear and silly as that was, the concept that Team USA would capitulate to Nike stress in participant choice is an entire different cost, one which Grant Hill pushed again on when requested about White’s choice over Brown.
USA Basketball’s Grant Hill on Jaylen Brown’s posts apparently suggesting Nike was behind his Olympic snub: “For an excellent portion of my profession, I wore Fila. That was presupposed to be a joke. We’re happy with our companions, clearly. … This is about placing collectively a group.” pic.twitter.com/Oh7LvSaUCW
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) July 11, 2024
It’s undoubtedly an advanced scenario. On the one hand there’s no query that Jaylen Brown is essentially the most gifted participant who may have been referred to as as much as fill Kawhi’s spot, however on the opposite Derrick White is definitely the higher defender, and fills the hole left by Kawhi higher.
As for alleged involvement in all this, we’ll in all probability by no means get a solution.
