Despite the good grades and a championship, Jaylen Brown could not make it to Team USA for the upcoming Paris Olympics. Even when we got to know that Kawhi Leonard wouldn’t be participating anymore owing to his injuries, the authorities brought in Derrick White in his stead. Brown was overlooked once again.

We cannot help but think that Brown must be furious. And he did not hide his anger this time. He called the $109.5 billion brand out on X. At first, he posted this: “Playing for USA Basketball, I think there is no greater honor … Being able to participate would be very cool.”

And just mere hours after this, he posted yet another tweet. And this time, not a cryptic message like the earlier one, he literally targeted the brand. “@nike this what we doing?”

So, what’s his deal? What’s the beef between Nike and Jaylen Brown?

To be honest, this wasn’t the first time Brown had done something like this. He has targeted the brand multiple times.

Brown was drafted into the league in 2016, after which he signed a deal with Adidas. He’s sworn by the sneaker brand for at least five seasons, until 2021, which is when his contract expired. Since then, there’s been no shoe deal coming his way. In fact, he went 3 years straight without any such deal. In those three years, Brown has only worn Nike’s Kobe Bryant signature shoe line, along with a few variants of the brand New Balance.

But then, after Kyrie Irving parted ways with the Celtics in 2019, after which Irving and Nike separated due to the former’s antisemitic beliefs on social media in 2022. This is when Brown first spoke out. Even though love was lost between the two, Brown actually came in support of Irving saying, “Since when did Nike care about ethics?”

Jaylen Brown took to X (then Twitter) to put out his support for Kyrie Irving by stating “Since when did Nike care about ethics?”

And then, during the Celtics’ last season, Jaylen Brown wore various Nike shoes without the “swoosh” sign. And in January, to commemorate the 4 death anniversary of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gigi, Brown arrived on the court for a matchup donning the “Reverse Grinch” Nike Kobe 6. Instead of displaying the logo, however, the pair was customized with art that paid tribute to the Black Mamba and his daughter.

Grant Hill downplays Jaylen Brown’s Nike ‘Theories’: “I wore FILA”

A major player speaking out about a billion-dollar sports brand is bound to turn heads. Jaylen Brown’s theory that Nike played a role in excluding him from Team USA was enough to warrant a response from the team’s managing director and former player, Grant Hill himself. During a recent presser, he emphasized that choosing Derrick White as Kawhi Leonard’s replacement was based entirely on merit. This meant that the best candidate out of the list had to be chosen, even though he himself would be a fan of the other one.

“You have to build a team. And one of the hardest things is leaving people off the roster that I’m a fan of, that I look forward to watching throughout the season, throughout the playoffs,” said Hill. “Guys who’ve been Finals MVP, guys who have been a part of the program, guys who’ve won gold medals. Guys who I respect, admire, and enjoy watching. But the responsibility that I have is to put together a team and a team that complements each other.”

Hill did not choose to specially name the 2024 Finals MVP in his remark. However, he did make a reference when he stated, “For a good portion of my career, I wore FILA. That was supposed to be a joke.” By this, he affirmed that despite belonging to another shoe brand, Hill was still chosen to represent Team USA as a player and, now, gets to head the team as director.

Do you believe that Nike intentionally left off Jaylen Brown? Let us know in the comments down below.

Before leaving, be sure to check out some insights that Shaquille O’Neal’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, shared about the Lakers legend’s infamous feud with the late Kobe Bryant.