We have seen brand wars unfold on the biggest stages. In 1992, Michael Jordan ‘unintentionally’ draped the American flag over the Team USA Reebok jacket to avoid promoting Nike’s rivals, who paid over $4 million for that sponsorship! Recently, another alleged issue arose, but this time, the roles were reversed. When Jaylen Brown wasn’t named as a replacement on Team USA, the Finals MVP believed Nike had a role to play.

Brown felt this way because Nike is the lead sponsor of the national team. Managing Director Grant Hill denied such claims, but not everyone believed him. Gilbert Arenas and his crew certainly did not, as they discussed the shoe controversy in the NBA, feeling Brown’s disgruntled relationship with the Swoosh fully affected his Olympic dream.

Rashad McCants traced the origins of the rivalry back to when the Celtics guard stood by Kyrie Irving after Nike broke their partnership. According to him, Jaylen Brown’s public stance favoring KAI when he commented, “Since when did Nike care about ethics?” was the first strike against the Celtics star. Later, Stephen A. Smith revealed concerns about Brown’s marketability out of nowhere, further fueling the tension.

“It’s that he’s just not liked because of his ‘I-am-better-than-you’ attitude,” the ESPN analyst said as he quoted an ‘unnamed source.’ “In the middle of them having one of the best seasons they have had since they had to band together, they come out with this whole marketing – ‘He ain’t marketable. He ain’t this. He ain’t that’ – right before the playoffs really started to take off. Created the narrative,” McCants ranted.

“Then he goes out and wins the MVP for the Eastern Conference, then he wins the actual MVP. Then they actually win the championship. ‘And y’all still don’t got no love for me?’” McCants boldly asserted in Jaylen Brown’s defense on Gil’s Arena. The former Timberwolves guard was sure Brown’s exclusion from the Olympic side was due to him being one of the few sneaker-free agents in the NBA. “If you ain’t Adidas or Nike, it’s up in the air,” he concluded.

Despite being a sneaker-free agent, Jaylen Brown regularly wore Kobe’s during NBA games, making him an unofficial Nike athlete. The Swoosh even looked to get the perennial All-Star under contract. However, after the incident involving Kyrie Irving’s antisemitic video on the internet and his refusal to publicly deny having those beliefs, leading to Nike tearing up his contract, Brown began removing the swoosh from his shoes before games!

Coupled with his public dismissal of the multibillion-dollar brand, there seems to be sufficient evidence to suggest that he isn’t in favor of Nike having a say in Team USA selection decisions, even if it did. The bold claim, however, gains strength when considering that the majority in the current Olympic roster represent Nike or Jordan, with only a handful not part of the club.

For example, Anthony Edwards is an Adidas athlete. Gilbert Arenas (Agent Zero) believes Ant-Man can never be the face of Team USA because of his allegiance with Adidas. According to Arenas, it’s not just Nike abusing their power; he blamed Adidas as well.

Gil Arenas worries about the future of basketball amidst the Jaylen Brown-Team USA debacle

The crew on Gil’s Arena was in unison when they spoke about Nike’s role in selecting the Team USA roster. Consequently, Gilbert Arenas believes Adidas as a brand has the same influence on the annual McDonald’s All-American game. The 42-year-old NBA veteran feels it’s a game of choice. If a player chooses the Swoosh, it gives them access to Team USA but forbids them from participating in the most prominent high school basketball game in the USA.

“USA basketball is Nike, so now think about Adidas kids. So now they got to leave Adidas teams and play with Nike teams so they can potentially get invited because they feel they are going to get scr*wed. Now let’s say you’re a Nike [athlete]. You want to be called to the McDonald’s All-American game. [You would think], ‘I got to go ahead and switch back to Adidas!’”

“So there’s these different roles. And I don’t like the handicap because kids are really making decisions based on: ‘If I want to play USA basketball, I gotta be Nike. If I want to play the McDonald’s, I got to be Adidas,’” Agent Zero revealed. During the All-American game in 2023, there were only three Nike athletes on the roster. These included Bronny James, DJ Wagner, and JuJu Watkins, who all signed NIL deals with Nike. In the procession leading up to the game, they were asked to wear Adidas shoes, which they openly refused, and took to the court wearing Nike.

That just goes to show that it’s not only the American sports apparel corporation allegedly trying to push forth an agenda by using their influence, but Adidas, too. In the case of Jaylen Brown and Team USA, the team’s sheer star power makes it hard to say he was sidelined solely because of his conflict with Nike.

Derrick White, named the replacement for Kawhi Leonard, has equally earned his stripes and has the arsenal to be a worthy member of Team USA. At the same time, it’s hard to imagine how the reigning Finals MVP and one of the best postseason performers didn’t make it to the national team in the initial selection – and as a replacement, too – that is aimed at restoring the USA’s basketball credibility, at the world’s biggest stage. Jaylen Brown checks every box, and his versatility would have been a valuable asset to Steve Kerr.

It just seems like it wasn’t meant to be.