It’s surprising that the shooting guard who led the Boston Celtics to victory with the highest points average of 23 points after Tatum in the last season is not on the Olympics roster of the USA this year. It was shocking news for the NBA fanbase when Team USA did not call Jaylen Brown as Kawhi Leonard‘s replacement on the team. Rather, they called Derrick White from the Celtics, a shooting guard who averaged only 15.2 points. Notably, Brown is also a shooting guard but he could not make it to the roster despite having better performance stats.

Is there any kind of bias there, or are we missing the big picture? Well, let us dive deep into it.

How does Jaylen Brown’s omission from the Olympic roster have a connection with Nike?

Let us take it as a corollary that the connection of Brown‘s dismissal has to do with something with Nike and the former’s connection with the athletic footwear and apparel corporation. Also, it involves the drastic dip in the shares of Nike last month! Can you believe it? Let us give you a read to better understand the situation. After Derrick White was called for Kawhi’s replacement, the Celtics star posted a tweet on X last Wednesday afternoon with the emojis, “🧐🧐🧐.” A day after, on Thursday, Brown tweeted another post on X with the caption, “Im not afraid of you or your resources.”

Apparently, these snippets were enough to start a conversation since Jaylen Brown did not have any amicable relationship with Nike for a long time. Most of the NBA community knows about it. He questioned Nike’s ethics when its founder, Phil Knight, criticized Kyrie Irving’s response to sharing an antisemitic documentary.

Another thing that cracked through the fans’ minds was that Nike is the bigwig sponsor of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee and USA Basketball. Ultimately, Grant Hill himself addressed these rumors last Wednesday when he told the press, “Whatever theories that might be out there, they’re just that. But that’s my responsibility. And it’s tough. It’s tough to have conversations, tell people that they’re not on the team.” Although Hill shut down the theories, it is worth noting that the 27-year-old does not have a shoe deal with Nike. Even if he wears Nike shoes, he dons them without a swoosh sign and plays with Anta’s shoes at the All-Star game, per Marca.

To close it up, there is another reason combined with the first one that might have also affected Jaylen Brown’s omission from the Olympics roster.

Nike’s battered loss at the end week of June 2024 might have affected Jaylen Brown’s recruitment as well!

Another factor to be noticed is that the last weekend of June this year crushed Nike’s hopes for growth since their share prices dropped from $94.29 to $75.37 in a single day, recording an almost 20% dip in their stock price. Over the week, the athletic shoe company’s stock tanked 23% on Wall Street at the end of June. With such a drastic dip in the stock prices, Nike might have suffered it for the first time in more than the last two decades, as per Marketwatch.

As per Axios, June 28 was Nike’s worst day on record, as they also recorded down 29% year-to-date. With such stats, some Wall Street analysts targeted CEO John Donahoe’s leadership. However, Donahoe has got something else on his mind since he recently stated to Forbes, “The Paris Olympics offers us a pinnacle moment to communicate our vision of sport to the world. We can’t wait to bring all this Olympics product to life across the Games and in more than 8,000 doors worldwide.” However, the Nike CEO’s confident words might not be enough to bring back the jeopardized market for the company.

“Compared to the market, which remains in growth, and compared to rivals, many of which are expanding sales at a rapid clip, Nike looks sluggish and unfit, “ that’s what Neil Saunders from GlobalData told Retail Drive. With such ambiance and market dip, it is speculated that Donahoe went with the player who wears Nike shoes and can help them in the promotion. Interestingly, Derrick White wears Nike shoes, and Jaylen Brown does not. Even if Brown goes with it, he removes its identity, so it can be concluded that Jaylen Brown’s staying away from the Olympic roster was more of a profit move rather than a brand deal. Though it is just a theory, it sits aptly well with the facts.

Well, it seems that’s how Jaylen Brown is at home chilling during the offseason rather than playing basketball with his peers on the court for the USA. What do you all think of this theory after going through it all? Let us know your opinions in the comments.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what brand maker, Leonard Armato, had to say about the deadly duo, Shaq and Kobe, check out this video.