Jaylen Brown still isn’t over Team USA’s decision to leave him off the Olympic roster for the games in Paris, and the NBA champion took umbrage with the idea that he was peddling a conspiracy theory about why he wasn’t included.
USA Basketball managing director Grant Hill appeared on the “Dan Patrick Show” on Friday and explained the rationale behind Brown not being selected, yet his Celtics teammate Derrick White was.
Hill reiterated a stance that he had held for some time, that the decision came down to a basketball decision, and denied any conspiracy to keep Brown off the team because he wasn’t a Nike-sponsored athlete.
That position seemed to set Brown off on Sunday and he took to social media to express that just as the U.S. men’s basketball team was tipping off against Serbia.
“grant hill calling me a conspiracy theorist is disappointing I’ve been a VP since I was 21 years old I have a great understanding,” Brown posted on X.
Nike is a sponsor of USA Basketball and the outfitter of the U.S. Olympic team and Brown has been critical of Nike over the years, including two years ago during a situation with Kyrie Irving after the athletic apparel brand dropped him.
And Brown, who was not signed with an apparel company after five years with Adidas to start his career, has made it clear he believes Nike conspired with Team USA to keep him from competing in these summer games
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Earlier this month he was asked directly about it by a reporter.
“I do, for sure. There be more stuff to come with that,” Brown said when asked if he felt Nike played a role in the decision. “As of now, I’m not going to comment on it.”
Brown, the NBA Finals MVP, also posted directly to the company, “@nike this what we doing ?”
He had another more cryptic post on X the following day.
“Im not afraid of you or your resources,” Brown wrote.
During Friday’s appearance on the “Dan Patrick Show,” Hill did say he had spoken to Brown’s agent about the decision.
“I don’t know if that was before or after things went out on Twitter,” Hill said. “But yeah, I think this idea that there’s a conspiracy theory — I always love a good conspiracy theory, but it was really truly a basketball decision and these are tough decisions. But having gone through this with the FIBA competition, you want to find the right balance and the right pieces on the court that we needed.”
Team USA defeated Serbia 110-84 on Sunday.