Jaylen Brown says he's fired up after Team USA snub: "I got all the motivation in the world to just come out and improve"

Many were shocked when USA Basketball named Derrick White as Kawhi Leonard's replacement after Leonard withdrew from the U.S. men's basketball team to the Paris Olympics.

People believed that the spot should have gone to Boston Celtics superstar Jaylen Brown , who had a spectacular 2024 postseason where he was named both Eastern Conference Finals and NBA Finals MVP.

There wasn't much reaction from JB, except a 'This what we doing?' tweet aimed at shoe giant Nike . A week later, Brown finally spoke about the issue, and more than anything else, he says being left off has only made him want to work harder for next season.

"Absolutely, I'm super fired up," Jaylen said if the snub is going to motivate him. "Now I've got all the motivation in the world to just come out and improve."

Brown says he wasn't surprised that he wasn't picked

JB said that while he was disappointed, he wasn't surprised that his name wasn't called. The C's star said that 'for sure,' Nike had something to do with it but refused to comment further on his accusation because 'there will be more stuff to come with that.'

However, he said that he was happy for Derrick and felt it was 'dope' to see three of his Boston teammates out there representing the flag. JB added that White was even the first person he called up after tweeting at Nike.

"I called Derrick right away, just to make sure there's no confusion, like my love for you, and all of that. You know what I mean, so like, he knew that, and he did, but you know, you got to make anything public, but me and D-White are good," added Brown.

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What is the issue between Jaylen and Nike?

While Brown has been a shoe-free agent since 2021, he's worn Nike sneakers for the majority of his NBA career. But when the Swoosh Brand terminated the services of JB's former Boston teammate Kyrie Irving for sharing an antisemitic film on social media, Jaylen called out Nike on Twitter for suddenly caring about ethics. Last October, the #3 pick of the 2016 Draft talked about what made him critical of the brand.

"One because they were removing his contract, his deal. And they were removing him for the video or whatever that he posted. And I was like, 'It's 2023', like we kinda know what's going on with these major corporations and companies and stuff, who they invested in and what they do behind closed doors," explained Brown during an interview with Complex ."

Officially, USA Basketball makes the decision to name members of Team USA . Executive Director Grant Hill said last week that it's not about corporate sponsorship; it's about putting together a team. And as Hill said, White is the ultimate complementary piece . However, considering Nike has been a major partner of USAB since 2006, it's like believing that LeBron had nothing to do with JJ Redick's hiring as Lakers head coach.

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