Jaylen Brown has constantly been online since winning his first NBA championship and Finals MVP.
The Celtics star has kept NBA Twitter buzzing during the dog days of the offseason, sparking some controversy after being snubbed from the Team USA roster for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Once his Boston teammate Derrick White was chosen as Kawhi Leonard’s injury replacement, Brown took to X with a cryptic emoji tweet to hint at his disappointment of not being selected.
A few hours later, he continued to express displeasure toward USA Basketball’s decision. Brown took a shot at Nike — the United States’ primary apparel brand for the Olympics — suggesting his checkered history with the Swoosh influenced the decision to leave him off the team.
USA Basketball basketball managing director Grant Hill addressed Brown’s comments ahead of the team’s first exhibition tune-up game against Canada. He did not mention Brown by name, but Hill harped on how tough it is to cut down the United States’ deep talent pool to just 12 players.
The next night, Brown was at the ESPYs to receive his award for the “Best Championship Performance.” On the pre-show red carpet, the Celtics star wasn’t buying Hill’s response.
“One day, I’ll share my story. People don’t have all the information in the world that they would like to know,” he said before flexing the Larry O’Brien trophy.
“I’m not afraid of you or your resources,” he tweeted the following day in another cryptic message before igniting another Team USA conversation on social media moments later.
MORE: Team USA’s oldest roster starts slow in exhibition win over Canada
Jaylen Brown calls Anthony Edwards Team USA’s No. 1 option
The Brown snub argument aside, the biggest conversation around Team USA is who the No. 1 option should be on a loaded roster.
There are elder statesmen like Kevin Durant, LeBron James and Stephen Curry, who have been the go-to guys on any teams they’ve ever played on. There are also young superstars like Anthony Edwards and Jayson Tatum who have proven their standing as two of the best players in the NBA today.
Edwards — as you would expect — wasn’t shy to claim that he felt he was the No. 1 option on Team USA despite the talent around him.
Brown backed Edwards’ confidence, commenting “#1 option” with the 100 emoji under the Timberwolves star’s post with pictures of him playing for Team USA.
“#1 option 💯”
Jaylen Brown with high praise for Anthony Edwards 🙌
(via @theantedwards_ / IG) pic.twitter.com/ONpnVbjlf9
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) July 12, 2024
Browns’ comment, of course, caused a stir considering he now has three teammates on Team USA — Tatum, White and Jrue Holiday.
It is unclear what Brown was suggesting with his post. There’s a chance he was just trying to continue to stir the pot the way he has been the last few days.
It’s also worth noting that Edwards is an Atlanta, Ga. native, just like Brown. Perhaps the Celtics star was just showing some additional support for a homegrown product who he has had high praise for in the past.
Regardless of Brown’s intentions, he surely has NBA fans captivated with his every move at the moment.
