Jaylen Brown posts cryptic reaction after being selected for Team USA in favor of Celtics teammate Derrick White

Jaylen Brown is coming off a legacy-defining season.

The eight-year NBA veteran made his third All-Star team, then won Eastern Conference Finals MVP and Finals MVP while helping lead the Boston Celtics to their first NBA championship since 2008. It’s that kind of effort that keeps him in the pantheon of Celtics. Lore and Squash criticized his $304 million contract extension, which made him the highest-paid player in league history at the time of signing.

This denied him a place on Team USA for the Paris Olympics. Brown missed early cuts of the final roster assembled for training camp in Las Vegas this week. When Kawhi Leonard withdrew on Wednesday — opening up a roster spot — Brown missed time again.

Team USA chose Brown’s Celtics teammate Derrick White to replace Leonard. When the news broke, Brown responded on social media as follows:

Brown sent out another tweet suggesting that Nike – which produces Team USA – had something to do with his departure from the team.

Brown is a sneaker free agent, but he had a contract with Adidas through 2021. His past association with Nike also stems from founder Phil Knight’s criticism of his friend Kyrie Irving in 2022, when Irving was suspended by the NBA.

Team USA responds

USA Basketball managing director Grant Hill denied Wednesday night that Nike had anything to do with any roster decisions.

Will it spread to Boston?

Secret social media activity is a hallmark of the modern professional athlete experience, and Brown’s tweet is a prime example.

The use of ambiguous emojis has ranged from rants to removing references to the team on social media during contract disputes as a sign of displeasure. Such ambiguity conveys a message when exiting.

In this case, the ambiguity allows him to express his displeasure without directly criticizing his teammate’s selection on the Olympic roster. It’s not like White and everyone else in Boston are incapable of doing the math here, though. And it’s not that Brown isn’t aware of this.

Brown has certainly received serious consideration for an Olympic roster spot; It’s a natural reaction to be frustrated at not being able to protect someone. Advocating conspiracy theories is another issue entirely.

Why did Team USA select Derrick White?

As Hill explained, making the roster for the Olympics isn’t like selecting an All-Star team or an All-NBA team. Beyond the top of the roster, it’s about getting fit and building a team to compete against the rest of the best players in the world – rather than just selecting the 12 best players available.

In this instance, Team USA lost an elite defender in Leonard – a seven-time NBA All-Defensive Team selection and two-time Defensive Player of the Year. In the selection of White, it added another elite perimeter defender and an excellent two-way player.

White earned All-Defensive Team honors for the second consecutive season while averaging one steal and 1.2 blocks per game as a guard. He’s able to pressure the opponent’s best perimeter player, challenge shots at the rim, and confidently knock down 3-pointers on the other side of the court (39.6% on 6.8 attempts per game last season).

It’s a valuable skill set that also played a key role in Boston capturing the NBA championship this season. It’s understandable why Team USA made him a priority.