Sad News; Boston Celtics lost a great player to death as he was found dead in…
Jaylen Brown is coming off a legacy-defining season.
The eight-year NBA veteran made his third All-Star team, then won Eastern Conference finals MVP and Finals MVP while helping lead the Boston Celtics to their first NBA championship since 2008. It’s the kind of effort that places him in the pantheon of Celtics lore and squashes criticism of his $304 million contract extension that made him the highest-paid player in league history when he signed it.
What it didn’t do is land him a spot on Team USA for the Paris Olympics. Brown missed the initial cut for the final roster that’s gathered in Las Vegas this week for training camp. When Kawhi Leonard withdrew on Wednesday — opening up a roster spot — Brown misseout.
Team USA instead selected Brown’s Celtics teammate Derrick White to replace Leonard. Here’s how Brown responded on social media when that news broke:
In this case, the ambiguity allows him to voice his displeasure without directly criticizing the selection of his teammate to the Olympic roster. Though it’s not as if White and everyone else in Boston is incapable of doing the math here. And it’s not like Brown’s not aware of that.
Brown’s certainly earned serious consideration for an Olympic roster spot; being disappointed to not secure one is a natural reaction. Lobbing conspiracy theories is another issue altogether.
Why did Team USA select Derrick White?
As Hill explained, roster building for the Olympics is not like selecting an All-Star team or an All-NBA team. Beyond the very top of the roster, it becomes about fit and building a team to compete against the rest of the world’s best — rather than simply selecting the 12 best available players.
