Team USA’s preparation for the 2024 Paris Olympics has come with its fair share of turbulence. Most recently, they were pushed to the brink by South Sudan despite being 43.5-point favorites to win on the night. But a few weeks ago, it was Jaylen Brown who kicked up a fuss when he expressed his disappointment over being overlooked as the squad’s Kawhi Leonard replacement, with the Team USA selection committee opting to bring in another Boston Celtics player in Derrick White instead.
While Brown is a better player in a vacuum, as evidenced by him bagging the 2024 NBA Finals MVP award, Team USA decided to enlist White’s services because he fits in much better as a low-usage, defense-first, 3-and-D guard. Even Celtics diehard fan Bill Simmons, who of all people would know how good of a player Brown is, believes that Team USA made the right decision.
“You don’t really have minutes for Jaylen Brown, who just won the Finals MVP, he’s just on a title team and now you’re going to add him to this team last minute because Kawhi gets shut down and he’s not going to play, and that’s going to go good from a chemistry standpoint? It’s not,” Simmons said on the most recent episode of his eponymous podcast.
“The White pick was a chemistry pick, that’s it. White’s not going to care if he plays or not. Jaylen Brown not playing is a little bit different, it’s a little bit embarrassing. He probably thinks he’s on the same level as KD and Tatum, and LeBron at this point, and he might not be wrong. To me it made sense not to have him because it brings up all the chemistry stuff that you want to avoid.”
Indeed, in a roster that’s already full of stars who will command the ball, a player of Derrick White’s archetype made more sense for Team USA to add in the aftermath of Kawhi Leonard’s withdrawal from the squad. But Jaylen Brown has to know that the national team’s established stars are getting up there in age, so he should be a part of future Team USA squads for as long as he manages to repair the bridges he’s been starting to burn.
Derrick White shows his value in Team USA’s escape act vs. South Sudan
Derrick White may be the player many believe will fill the 1992 Christian Laettner, 2012 Anthony Davis or 2016 Harrison Barnes role on Team USA, but White is staking his claim for minutes with how well he played against South Sudan in Team USA’s 101-100 escape act.
White had the best plus-minus of any bench player, and he dropped five assists in the second half, proving his worth as a capable ball-handler and ball-mover. He also gave Team USA some energy on the defensive end, most notably on the final possession when he blocked a potential game-winning attempt from Wenyen Gabriel.
Derrick White simply oozes winning basketball without having to dominate the basketball nor fill up the stat-sheet. He gets the job done, as proven in the Celtics’ run to the 2024 NBA championship, and Team USA will be hoping to get a similar kind of impact in their quest to bag home the gold in Paris.
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