A few weeks before the Paris Olympics, the NBA men’s basketball team was shocked with the news that Kawhi Leonard would be stepping down from the sport in the offseason to focus on the Clippers. The team would lose one of its best defensive players and in need of a replacement, the team announced that Derrick White would take Leonard’s place.
It’s a basketball move that makes a lot of sense: White brings some much-needed defense to the Team USA rotation, coming off an NBA Finals series in which his ability to contain Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving was key to the win. Celtics‘ A win. Nevertheless, only Celtics teammate Jaylen Brown couldn’t understand the decision.
Brown reignited his long-running feud with Nike, suggesting White was chosen for the politics of the shoe, not the basketball fit. Brown has worn Nike in the past but rejected the company for the 2024 NBA All-Star Game. When I wear two pairs of shoes from a small manufacturerBrown has a history of criticizing Nike, including when the company released Kyrie Irving in 2022.
Brown also played on the Adidas circuit as a top-ranked player during his high school years, and he believes his decision not to support Nike cost him his status, which has at least a grain of truth to it.
Nike has historically had a conflicted relationship with the U.S. team over the rostering of non-Nike athletes. In 2016, the company strategically placed non-Nike athletes at the back of photos or had their shoes hidden to give the impression that the U.S. team was all Nike. While this is obvious and foolish, the idea that the U.S. team would bow to Nike pressure in player selection is another accusation entirely, one that Grant Hill refuted when asked why White was chosen over Brown:
Responding to Jaylen Brown’s post implying that Nike was to blame for missing out on the Olympics, USA Basketball Association’s Grant Hill said, “I’ve been with Fila most of my career. It was meant as a joke. Of course, we’re proud of our partners. … This is about bringing the team together.” pic.twitter.com/Oh7LvSaUCW
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) July 11, 2024
It’s a complicated situation, to be sure. On the one hand, there’s no question that Jaylen Brown is the most talented player brought in to fill Kawhi’s shoes, but on the other hand, Derrick White is arguably the better defender and could better fill the void left by Kawhi.
The allegations of involvement in this case will likely never be answered.
