NFL Legend Sides With Jaylen Brown’s Claim Accusing Nike of Influencing Team USA Selection

Jaylen Brown stunned the NBA world last week with his public accusation against Nike. The 2024 NBA Finals MVP blamed the shoe company for his exclusion from the star-studded Team USA Olympics Basketball roster. Amidst the rapidly increasing tension over this issue, Keyshawn Johnson recently supported the Boston Celtics star, garnering attention.

In the latest UNDISPUTED episode, the NFL legend highlighted the timeline of the dispute between Brown and Nike to justify his stance. Subsequently, he emphasized the deterioration of their relationship as the primary reason behind the Celtics star’s exclusion. Expressing his viewpoint, Johnson stated,

“When you think about what he said about the ethics of Nike and how they treated the Kyrie [Irving] situation… Jaylen said, ‘I’m not afraid of y’all’. Now he came back here on July 11th and said the same thing… They [Nike] ain’t getting no free advertisement on him in the Olympics… Even though every single year, the Celtics’ Nike swoosh is still on the jersey but that’s the team versus the Olympic team”.

This aptly summarized the dispute which began in November 2022. Shortly after Nike terminated Kyrie Irving’s contract for endorsing a widely condemned antisemitic documentary, Brown openly criticized the company and called out Nike on X (formerly Twitter),

“Since when did Nike care about ethics?”.

Since then, both parties have maintained their distance, with the Celtics jersey being the only exception. Despite his differences with the company, Brown always proudly displayed Nike’s swoosh logo on his uniform. He only did so out of admiration for his beloved franchise, showcasing no intention of bridging the gap with Nike.

Years later, this has proven costly for Brown. As Johnson indicated, Nike likely played a significant role in the 2024 NBA champion’s omission from the roster. As the sponsor of the USA Basketball team, the company allegedly didn’t want to include one of its most prominent critics in the team.

Immediately after this, chaos ensued. Initially, Brown subtly hinted at Nike’s involvement in his exclusion. However, soon he began calling out the company directly on X. Voicing his frustration, he wrote,

“Nike, this what we doing?”. 

Following this, the 27-year-old extended this viewpoint and wrote, “I’m not afraid of you or your resources”.

This added volume to Johnson’s words. After all, JB deserved to be a part of this roster because of his undeniable talent and recent NBA Finals heroics. Yet, he was unfairly overlooked in the selection process, sparking arguments everywhere.

Soon after Nike’s alleged involvement in Brown’s exclusion started making rounds online, Stephen A. Smith doubled down on this narrative.

Stephen A. Smith also voiced his support for Jaylen Brown

The ESPN analyst justified his point by highlighting the recent success of the 3x All-Star. Quoting a post covering the dispute between the player and the company, Smith wrote on X,

“Do y’all believe me now? Yo @FCHWPO [Jaylen 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 Boston Celtics and a Top-15 player in the world, NOT chosen for Team USA? B/c his teammate NOT named Tatum is selected before him? Come on y’all!!!”.

As things stand, the national team management has no answer to this situation. Their best way forward is to ensure a gold medal with the selected roster. This could help justify their decision to a certain extent while possibly easing tensions surrounding Nike and JB.