Team USA added a third Boston Celtic to their roster for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
And it wasn’t the NBA Finals MVP.
When Kawhi Leonard was removed from Olympic training camp due to injury, the U.S. national team tabbed Derrick White, not Jaylen Brown, to fill his spot on the 12-man roster. White will join fellow Celtics Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday as the Americans vie for their fifth straight gold medal later this month in Paris.
White’s call-up was not surprising. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported weeks earlier that the versatile guard would be the favorite to fill in if Leonard’s knee issues sidelined the Clippers star. But Brown, who was arguably Boston’s best player during its championship run, did not hide his displeasure.
After the change was announced, Brown tweeted three puzzled emojis, then insinuated that Nike’s sponsorship of Team USA might have factored into his snub.
“@nike this what we doing?” posted Brown, who has been critical of the sneaker giant in the past and is one of the few NBA stars currently without a shoe deal.
Asked Wednesday night about Brown’s reaction, Team USA managing director Grant Hill joked that he wore FILA for much of his playing career, then offered an explanation for why Brown wasn’t the one chosen to replace Leonard.
“This is about putting together a team,” Hill told reporters in Las Vegas. “… Just overall, you have incredible interest from an abundance of talent that we have here in the United States. I’ve talked a little about when we assembled this roster, you have 12 spots, and you have to build a team. One of the hardest things is leaving people off the roster that I’m a fan of, that I look forward to watching throughout the season, throughout the playoffs.
“Guys who’ve been Finals MVPs. Guys who’ve been a part of the program. Guys who’ve won gold medals. Guys who I respect, admire and enjoy watching. But the responsibility that I have is to put together a team, and a team that complements each other, a team that fits, a team that will give us the best opportunity for success. So whatever theories that might be out there, they’re just that.”
Hill used a different team-building analogy in an earlier interview with Andscape’s Marc J. Spears: a “piano recital.”
“You got piano movers, you got piano tuners, and you got piano players,” said Hill, who played on the team that won gold at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. “And you need all three to put on a good show. You can’t have all piano players.”
In other words, when assembling a roster, the best players aren’t necessarily the right players.
Based on their position, size and skill sets, the 6-foot-6 Brown would have been a more natural replacement for the 6-foot-7 Leonard. But Hill’s comments — both to Spears and in his Wednesday news conference — seemed to indicate Team USA’s shot-callers weren’t interested in adding another stud wing player to a group that already features Tatum, LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Anthony Edwards.
White will add versatility and grit to a U.S. backcourt that, outside of Holiday, is much stronger in the offensive end than on defense. White and Holiday both were second-team All-Defense selections this season, and both shot better than 40% from 3-point range during the Celtics’ playoff run.
And, as both a late arrival and the lone Team USA player without an All-Star appearance on his resume, White is unlikely to have any gripes about his playing time in Paris.
“I’ve been a big fan of Derrick’s,” Hill told reporters. “Obviously, he just won a championship. One of the many things that I really love about Derrick, and particularly with this team, is I don’t feel like his role changes much with our team from what he does with the Celtics. He plays alongside two incredibly great young players in Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, and this setting is hard when you come in and you have to sort of — you’re the center of your universe and now you have to establish a role, and it might be different than what you have to do with your team.
“So to have someone who can come in and play off of guys, be complementary to some others, but then also stand out and be a dynamite defensive player, knock down shots — just impact winning.”
Hill also said White’s prior experience with FIBA basketball rules — which differ in some subtle but important ways from the NBA game — from representing the U.S. in the 2019 World Cup was a strong selling point. Brown has played for Team USA, too, but not since the U18 level in 2014.
“I’m trying to win,” Hill said, “and I’m trying to put together the right pieces that fit and give us a chance to win.”
Team USA played its first pre-Olympic warmup game Wednesday night, winning 86-72 over Canada in Las Vegas. Holiday started that game and tallied 11 points, five rebounds, four assists and two blocks, with Tatum adding eight points off the bench on 4-of-7 shooting.
White reportedly is expected to join the team in Abu Dhabi, where it’s scheduled to play exhibitions against Australia next Monday and Serbia next Wednesday. After two more friendlies against South Sudan and Germany in London, the U.S. will open its Olympic slate against Serbia on July 28 in Lille, France.
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