A lot has been said since the U.S. men’s national team decided to replace Kawhi Leonard with Derrick White, after they assessed that the Clippers star was still suffering from the knee injury that kept him out of his club’s final games from this past season. However, some believe that there was another Celtics player who deserved the call.
Boston conquered the NBA title with Jaylen Brown as their Finals MVP, and many consider 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 this Monday 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.”
Jaylen Brown Reveals Message To Derrick White After Team USA Snub https://t.co/Hz4fwY8LYI
— Athlon Sports (@AthlonSports) July 16, 2024
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.”
Letting Leonard go wasn’t an easy decision, as he’d showed a lot of promise and improvement during his first week training with Team USA. However, it still seemed as he wasn’t able to train as intensely as his teammates during training camp, and USA Basketball executive director Grant Hill made the final call.
“We just felt that we had to pivot, and not to get into the particulars in terms of what went into the decision, but we just felt it was in our best interest, but also in the Clippers’ and Kawhi’s best interest, to move into a different direction,” he told the press last week. “We tried. I think we all tried, and we gave it a valiant effort, and unfortunately, we have to move forward.”
White revealed he was ready to go on vacations with his family when he received the call to represent the United States in the Olympic Games
Derrick was visiting his family in Denver, Colorado when he received the call from the men’s basketball team saying he was being summoned to play for his country in the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris. According to the Celtics star, he was planning on spending this week at a desert resort on the sea, specifically in Cabo, Mexico.
Now, he’s already landed in Abu Dhabi on the Arabian Gulf and is getting ready to represent Team USA on the sport’s biggest stage in France. Four days before his arrival on Sunday, he had been notified that Kawhi Leonard needed to be replaced as he continues to recover from his surgically-repaired knee.
White already knew from before that he was considered a top candidate for a place in the roster, but he didn’t receive the official call as the Clippers player had already reported to training camp and was feeling well during the squad’s first practices in Las Vegas.
“I kind of figured it out when everybody else figured out when [ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski] tweeted it, and then me and my agent were talking about it a little bit through the summer,” White revealed. “But I had assumed that Kawhi was going to continue. But then when I seen all that happened and I got the call, I was ready to go.”
