This has been a very emotionally summer for Jaylen Brown, as he’s been on some sort of a rollercoaster ride which included becoming an NBA champion and Finals MVP with the Celtics, as well as being snubbed off Team USA’s Olympian squad, who earned a gold medal in France last month.
Not only was the Boston superstar not taken into consideration from the U.S. Men’s Basketball club, he was hoping to get his name called when Kawhi Leonard fell to injury in July and had to retire from his Olympic dream. This is when they decided to call his own teammate Derrick White, instead of the All-Star forward.
Based on Jaylen’s Twitter posts during this time, the player understood this wasn’t entirely a personal shot at him, but he did mentioned that Nike is probably one of the reasons why he hasn’t been taken into consideration. If you add his Eastern Conference finals MVP and Finals MVP trophies, it sure feels strange he wasn’t called to represent his nation.
“I Want Blood” – Jaylen Brown Sounds More Than Ready To Destroy Everything In His Path This Upcoming Season https://t.co/IVlYaQZnXh pic.twitter.com/u1aLgcSJqo
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) September 1, 2024
Whatever the real reasons are, there sure was drama involved in this one, and Brown plans to use it as motivation. While answering to comments on his own Instagram post, he liked a comment that said, “JB villain year loading…” and then responded by warning the rest of the league: “I want blood.”
In the meantime, the Celtics star is getting ready to get back to the grind of the NBA. Even though he has been enjoying the adulation that comes with winning an NBA championship in Boston, he’s focused on leading the pack to defend another title next year.
“Last year is over, to be honest. We celebrated; we had a good time. It’s been an awesome summer. I’ve been having a great summer, by the way. But it’s over with it,” JB said. “Now we got the target on our back. Everybody’s trying to come after us and I’m like, ‘Come on.’ It’s back to work. And I’m looking forward to next season.”
The Celtics forward is coming from one of the best seasons in his career, if not the best, after tallying 23.0 points, 3.6 assists, 5.5 total rebounds per match, and a field goal percentage of 49.9%. It is important to mention that he also logged a career-best offensive rating of 113 to go along with a true shooting percentage of 58.0%.
The Boston All-Star accepted the idea that Nike might be involved in the fact that he wasn’t taken into consideration for Team USA’s Olympic run
Boston conquered the NBA title with Jaylen Brown as their Finals MVP, and many considered him a better asset for Team USA’s gold-medal aspirations than White. Either way, JB didn’t want any trouble, so he revealed that he called his teammate to make sure there was no “confusion.”
“I called Derrick right away,” the All-Star told reporters last month ahead of the Celtics’ summer league match against the Lakers in Las Vegas. “Just to make sure there’s no confusion, my love for you and all of that. He knew that, and he did. You don’t always gotta make everything public. Me and D-White are good.”
Despite him avoiding drama with his teammate, JB did post a number of cryptic messages on social media right as Derrick’s selection was announced, including one directed at Nike. The point guard is convinced that the shoe company had something to do with the fact he wasn’t considered for the position.
It is well known that Nike is a sponsor for Team USA, and Brown hasn’t signed a new shoe deal since his contract with Adidas expired three years ago. “I do for sure,” Jaylen expressed in response to a question about Nike’s influence in his snub. “They’ll be more stuff to come with that but as of now I’m not going to comment on it.”
