The boys’s Olympic basketball crew 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 crew with out one in every of its finest defensive gamers, and in want of a substitute the crew introduced that Derrick White would take his place.
It’s a basketball transfer that makes a whole lot of sense. White provides Workforce USA much-needed protection of their rotation, and he’s contemporary off an NBA Finals collection that noticed his means to restrict Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving as key elements within the Celtics’ win. Regardless of 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 prior to now, however spurned the corporate in the course of the 2024 NBA All-Star Recreation when he wore two pairs from small producers. 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 assist Nike value him a spot, and there may be at the least a small grain of reality to all this.
Traditionally Nike has had a contentious relationship with Workforce USA in terms of non-Nike athletes making the roster. In 2016 the corporate strategically positioned non-Nike athletes at the back of images, or lined their footwear in an effort to give the notion that Workforce USA was all-Nike. As clear and silly as that was, the concept that Workforce 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 a superb portion of my profession, I wore Fila. That was alleged to be a joke. We’re happy with our companions, clearly. … That is about placing collectively a crew.” pic.twitter.com/Oh7LvSaUCW
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) July 11, 2024
It’s positively a sophisticated scenario. On the one hand there’s no query that Jaylen Brown is essentially the most gifted participant who may have been known as as much as fill Kawhi’s spot, however on the opposite Derrick White is certainly 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.
