Fans expect the Boston Celtics to continue their dominant displays and defend the Larry O’Brien trophy next season. After all, they arguably have the most complete roster in the league at the moment. While it’ll be extremely difficult for a team to beat the Celtics four times in any series, will internal conflict be the reason for their eventual downfall? As Gilbert Arenas pointed out, the Celtics’ chemistry might be jeopardized if Jaylen Brown doesn’t stop his criticism and complaints about USABMNT. The 2024 NBA Finals MVP hasn’t been silent since his snub for the Paris Olympics.

During the latest segment of the No Chill Gil podcast, Arenas advised Brown to be more supportive of his teammates on Team USA. Agent Zero suggested that his constant jabs at USABMNT could hurt his teammates’ feelings and create friction during the regular season. 

“Your complaint is a valid complaint but it’s your teammate. The person they replaced you with is a teammate, so the more you keep talking s**t about who they picked, it kind of makes your teammate look at you kind of sideways. Like right now, there’s three (Tatum, Jrue Holiday, and White) of them right,” Arenas said on the podcast. He further alluded that when Brown won the Finals MVP award, that might have hurt Jayson Tatum. There was a controversy about who was more deserving among Tatum and Brown for the Finals MVP honor.

Arenas added, “You won the award and it kind of hurt some feelings. You know, it probably hurt Jayson Tatum’s feelings. Now you’re throwing shots. That shot is at Derrick white. So you want to think more about your regular season. So if I’m him, I would just be like, ‘Yo I’m just happy three of my teammates is going to represent. They get a gold,’ and just keep it moving.”

Things quickly got messy when Brown’s teammate Derrick White was chosen to replace Kawhi Leonard instead of the Finals MVP. Brown then took to social media to publicly express his disappointment at the snub. He believes that his initial beef with sneaker brand Nike was involved in this decision. While he didn’t say anything against White, he was more disappointed with his own snub.

However, recently, USABMNT Managing Director Grant Hill clarified, “I always love a good conspiracy theory, but it was really truly a basketball decision, and these are tough decisions,” during his appearance on The Dan Patrick Show. Instead of calming things down, Hill’s comments fueled the fire, leading Brown to take another shot at the team.

Is Jaylen Brown happy for his teammate? 

The word “conspiracy” didn’t sit well with the NBA champ. Taking to X, Brown wrote, “Calling me a conspiracy theorist is disappointing. I’ve been a VP (Vice President of the NBPA) since I was 21 years old. I have a great understanding.” His comment certainly reflects back on the claims he made against Nike. However, he admitted to being happy for his teammates.

“I wasn’t surprised, but my reaction was that I was happy for D. White. It’s dope to have so many of our guys on there, so I was happy for those guys. But I wasn’t surprised,” Brown said in an interview with The Athletic. After White was selected for Team USA, Brown took numerous jabs at USABMNT, including publicly calling out Nike. However, many are doubtful about Brown’s claims against Nike. 

After Hill stated that it was a decision purely based on team considerations, NFL legend Shannon Sharpe commented that the Boston Celtics star might have misunderstood something, suggesting not everything is controversial. Much has been said and assumed in this matter, and Arenas believes it’s high time for the 27-year-old to stop.

Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting pilot episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and SEC All-Freshman Team Selection, Silas Demary Jr.