Why was Jaylen Brown left off Team USA?

How often do you see a player with the resume of Jaylen Brown left off of an Olympic roster?

A player who’s been an NBA Finals MVP, an Eastern Conference Finals MVP, an All-Star, an All-NBA second-teamer, and who’s widely regarded as one of the best two-way wings in the league.

Brown was not only left off the original roster announced months ago but was passed over again when Kawhi Leonard left the team due to injury.

While some noticed Brown's omission, it became a major topic of conversation Wednesday when he tweeted some cryptic messages that seemed to reference the situation.

First, a series of emojis were posted on Wednesday, followed by a tweet directed at Nike saying, "This is what we doing." Then, on Thursday, another tweet declared, "I'm not afraid of you or your resources."

Some, including Brown himself apparently, have suggested that his past criticism of Nike, a sponsor of Team USA, could be to blame for him being off the team.

Gresh and Fauria discussed the Brown/Team USA situation on WEEI Thursday. Listen to the entire segment above.

“I just look at it and say, ‘Say it, Jaylen,’” Andy Gresh said. “If you believe it, or you know it, say it. The problem is, he probably can’t prove it, which leads to speculation.”

Christian Fauria took a far more aggressive stance on the issue, saying he believes Brown’s omission was made for reasons other than basketball.

“I smell a rat,” Fauria said. “I smell a rat at Nike, I smell a rat with Olympic basketball. I think they were absolutely colluding in some way, shape, or form to keep him off the team.”

Fauria also theorized that Nike feared Brown might protest Nike in some way at the Olympics by wearing gear from another brand or otherwise.

“When we take the team picture, is he going to wear Puma, Converse, or Under Armour just to stick it to us?” Fauria asked. “And if he does, are we going to have to hide his feet so we don’t have any, they don’t get any free product placement, and we spent all the money?”

Gresh questioned why the criticism of Team USA's decision didn't arise when the initial rosters were announced, given that many players were selected over Brown. He also pointed out that Brown's public comments could affect his Celtics teammates, Derrick White and Jayson Tatum, who are on Team USA.

“Why weren’t Celtics fans screaming ‘Kawhi Leonard can’t play, Jaylen Brown is a Finals MVP,’ that’s where it would have been relevant,” Gresh said.

“Instead, we wait for [Jaylen], and then in turn, all of us having these discussions where it’s insulting his teammates on a world championship team,” Gresh said.