Jaylen Brown seems to be unhappy about not replacing Kawhi Leonard on Team USA: "Nike, this what we doing?"

After winning both the Eastern Conference Finals and NBA Finals MVP awards this past season, it looked like Jaylen Brown had overcome the stigma of always being overlooked.

Brown is one half of the Boston Celtics' Jays duo, but between him and Jayson Tatum, the Duke guy has always gotten more praise and credit. But that seemed to change after JB's performance in the 2024 NBA Playoffs when the Celtics won their first NBA championships since 2008.

However, after Kawhi Leonard pulled out of Team USA due to health concerns, Brown was believed to be the top candidate to replace him. Instead, USA Basketball picked JB's teammate Derrick White as Kawhi's substitute. That made Jaylen react by posting the monocle emoji on 'X.' Not content with that, the 3rd pick of the 2016 NBA Draft called out USAB's longtime sponsor.

"Nike, this what we doing?" wrote Brown.

Is Nike calling the shots from behind the scenes?

The U.S. shoe giant has been a major partner of the U.S. men's and women's basketball teams since 2006. Ever since then, it has been rumored that it makes the decisions from behind the curtain.

Last year, during the 2023 FIBA World Championships, the Swoosh brand came under fire after Minnesota Timberwolves superstar Anthony Edwards did not start for Team USA during their early exhibitions, leaving Ant-Man's fellow Adidas endorser and former NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas to blame Nike .

"Who on the team is better than him for him to even come off the bench? Fu** the shoe companies, I get it. But as a coach? No, nothing. That's just what they do. It's all politics and shoes. The best player on the team is an Adidas guy, and it's a Nike-sponsored thing," Arenas explained.

Brown has been critical of Nike

Meanwhile, Jaylen has been a shoe-free agent since 2021. Although he wore the Nike Air Zoom G.T.Cut 2 for most of the 2024 NBA season and has worn Nike shoes in 66% of his career NBA games, Brown has done at least a couple of things that might have gotten Nike's ire.

JB wore Kyrie Irving's KAI Anta signature shoe during the 2024 NBA All-Star Game and once famously criticized Phil Knight's company after it fired Kyrie Irving in 2022 for sharing an anti-semitic film on social media.

You can always argue that Under Armour's Steph Curry and Adidas' Edwards are on the team. But if USAB had left them out, there would have been a huge controversy. Despite his recent success, Brown is no stranger to getting overlooked, and not many, except Celtics fans perhaps, have cared. Let's see how this latest snub story develops.

Related: Bill Simmons says Jayson Tatum should finish games for Team USA over Kevin Durant: "I just think he's a better player at this point"