Jaylen Brown appeared to imply that Nike played a role in leaving him off the Team USA roster for the Summer Olympics.
On Wednesday, USA Basketball announced that Derrick White will replace Kawhi Leonard on the men’s Olympic squad. Brown didn’t seem to celebrate his Boston Celtics teammate’s selection.
Following the news, Brown posted three emojis of a face looking through a monocle. Later in the day, he tagged Nike in another cryptic post.
“@nike
this what we doing?” Brown wrote.
Brown, who isn’t signed to a shoe deal, frequently wears Nike sneakers on the court. However, he criticized the company after founder Phil Knight said Kyrie Irving “stepped over the line” by sharing anti-Semitic material on social media.
“Since when did Nike care about ethics?” Brown asked in November 2022.
Appearing on Complex’s Sneaker Shopping last year, Brown called most basketball shoes on the market “trash” and explained why he questioned Nike’s ethics.
“We kind of know what’s going on with these major corporations and companies, who they’ve invested in, and what they do behind closed doors,” Brown said.
Nike sponsors USA Basketball and manufactures the team uniforms, so Brown may be suggesting that the company used its influence to keep him off the roster. Kyrie Irving, who created his own shoe line after Nike terminated their partnership, also won’t join Jayson Tatum on the Team USA roster in Paris.
Related: USA Basketball Announces Kawhi Leonard Has Withdrawn From Olympics