How Jaylen Brown Avoided Team USA’s ESPY Awards Snub originally appeared in NBC Sports Boston
Jaylen Brown added yet another award to her collection on Thursday night at the 2024 ESPY Awards. But there was an elephant in the room that needed to be addressed some to point.
Boston Celtics star won the ESPY for “Best Championship Performance” right after winning the 2024 NBA Finals MVP following a dominant series against the Dallas Mavericks. Brown’s ESPY win came one day after Team USA chose Derrick White over Brown to replace the injured Kawhi Leonard on their 12-man roster for the 2024 Paris Olympics, prompting Brown to suggest he was snubbed due to his past criticism of Nikewhich is an apparel sponsor for Team USA.
Brown’s strong reaction made plenty of headlines, so it was only a matter of time before he was asked about the snub on Thursday night in Los Angeles. Sure enough, former Carolina Panthers and New England Patriots quarterback Cam Newton pressed Brown on the issue during a pre-ESPYs red carpet interview — but the Celtics star didn’t want to get involved.
“I really don’t have any comment,” Brown told Newton. “I’m with my beautiful date tonight.”
Cam Newton: “How do you feel about the US team right now?”
Jaylen Brown: “[What do you] to mean?
CN: “Why aren’t you there? You feel [some way]?”
JB: “I don’t really have any comments. I’m with my beautiful date tonight.pic.twitter.com/Bp8t93IdNe
– ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) July 12, 2024
Brown arrived at the ESPYs with former Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky guard Kysre Gondrezick as his date, posing for photos with Gondrezick as well as his mother, Celtics co-owner Wyc Grousbeck and Grousbeck’s wife, Emilia Fazzalari.
Brown also gave a brief acceptance speech after winning his ESPY, and while he didn’t make any direct mention of Team USA’s snub, he did joke that his mother is mad at him — which may or may not be related to her son. using social media to criticize Nike not once, but twice after not receiving a call from Team USA.
https://www.instagram.com/p/C9TdNwSsclR
The good news for Brown (and perhaps his mother) is that he didn’t fan the flames of the Team USA controversy Thursday night, instead staying focused on his final honor and his reunion.
Brown will now be able to enjoy some time off leading up to training camp in September as Celtics teammates White, Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday prepare for Team USA’s next exhibition in Abu Dhabi on Monday.
