Jaylen Brown Disagrees With Grant Hill’s ‘Conspiracy Theory’ Comment

Jaylen Brown Disagrees With Grant Hill’s ‘Conspiracy Theory’ Comment originally appeared in NBC Sports Boston

The Jaylen Brown-USA basketball saga continued on Sunday ahead of the men’s national team’s 2024 Paris Olympics debut against Serbia.

The Boston Celtics star didn’t shy away from expressing his displeasure at being left off the Team USA roster. He took to social media with cryptic posts after C’s teammate Derrick White was chosen over him as Kawhi Leonard’s replacement, including a allusion to Nike playing a role in his omission.

Team USA Managing Director Grant Hill emphasized in The Dan Patrick Show that choosing white over brown was purely a “basketball decision.”

“I spoke to (Brown’s) agent. I don’t know if that was before or after things were publicized on Twitter,” Hill said. “But yeah, I think this idea that there’s a conspiracy theory — I’ve always loved a good conspiracy theory, but it was really a basketball decision and those are tough decisions. But having been through that with the FIBA ​​competition, you want finding the right balance and the right pieces on the court that we needed.”

The “conspiracy theory” remark didn’t sit well with Brown, who responded Sunday on X.

“Grant Hill calling me a conspiracy theorist is disappointing. I have been vice president since I was 21 and have great understanding,” he wrote.

Brown is referring to his role as vice president of the NBA Players Association. He became the youngest vice president elected in 2018, his third season in the league.

The three-time All-Star’s beef with Team USA is understandable. He is coming off the best season of his eight-year career and propelled Boston to its 18th championship as the Eastern Conference Finals and NBA Finals MVP. And while Hill’s reason for choosing White was he wanted a great point-of-attack defender at guards, Brown has excelled in that role throughout the 2023-24 campaign, including in the Finals against Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic.

At this point, all Brown can do is use your omission as motivation this could help the C’s repeat as champions next season. Between his Team USA, All-NBA and All-Defense snubs, there is no doubt he will have a chip on his shoulder.

USA Basketball’s quest for a gold medal will begin at 11:15 a.m. ET on Sunday against Serbia.