Kawhi Leonard drops out of Team USA | Speak
Kawhi Leonard withdrew from Team USA ahead of the 2024 Olympics. Emmanuel Acho believes Leonard's legacy has been ruined.
ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith has now entered the conversation revolving around Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown’s Olympic team snub.
Basketball fans were curious as to why Brown, the NBA Finals MVP, didn’t make Team USA initially. But that conversation escalated when Derrick White, Brown’s Celtics teammate, was the replacement for Kawhi Leonard, who withdrew from the team.
Brown posted cryptic tweets on Wednesday, where he posted three emojis with monocles and another where he tagged Nike, which makes the Olympic jerseys, and wrote "this what we doing?"
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Celtics guard Jaylen Brown questions a call during the NBA Finals game against the Dallas Mavericks, June 9, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Brown isn’t a Nike athlete, as he signed a deal with adidas in 2016 when he was drafted by the Celtics.
Smith, then, replied to what Brown had tweeted.
"Do y’all believe me now?" he tweeted. "Yo (Brown), do I need to reveal my sources now? Is it not obvious now? How in the hell is a $300M man – now a champion and an NBA Finals MVP – who’s clearly a top-two player on the @celtics and a Top-15 player in the world, NOT chosen for Team-USA? B/c his teammate NOT named [Jayson] Tatum is selected before him? Come on y’all!!!"
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The part where Smith said, "do I need to reveal my sources now?" stems from a previous segment on "First Take" this year, where Smith suggested Brown wasn’t as marketable as other NBA stars because of his "I am better than you attitude."
Brown caught wind of that on May 26, and he posted on X over a clip of Smith where he said, "State your source."
From there, Brown consistently brought up "state your source," including when the Celtics won the NBA Finals over the Dallas Mavericks.
Brown posted on Instagram after winning the Finals and Finals MVP, where he again captioned it, "State your source" while tagging Smith.
Jaylen Brown reacts during the Celtics victory parade following their NBA Finals win at TD Garden on June 21, 2024, in Boston. (Maddie Malhotra/Getty Images)
Then, as the Celtics celebrated their victory in Boston during a parade, Brown was spotted wearing a "state your source" T-shirt.
But, now that Brown isn’t a part of the USA Basketball squad traveling to Paris, Smith believes he’s having an "I told you so" moment.
USA Basketball managing director Grant Hill addressed Brown’s tweet to Nike on Wednesday, where he deflected.
"For a good portion of my career, I wore Fila," Hill told reporters. "That was supposed to be a joke. We’re proud of our partners, obviously.… This is about putting together a team."
Stephen A. Smith during the NBA Finals game between the Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks on June 14, 2024. (Jim Cowsert/NBAE via Getty Images)
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Despite Brown’s cryptic tweets, Team USA is set for the Paris Olympics, with their group play beginning on July 28 against Serbia. They will play several more exhibition contests to warm up for their quest for gold, with the next one on July 15 against Australia in Abu Dhabi.
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