Jaylen Brown takes issue with Grant Hill’s ‘conspiracy theory’ comment – ​​NBC Sports Boston

The Jaylen Brown-USA Basketball saga continued Sunday ahead of the men’s national team’s opening game at the 2024 Paris Olympics against Serbia.

The Boston Celtics star hasn’t been shy about voicing his displeasure at being left off Team USA’s roster. He took to social media with cryptic messages after C’s teammate Derrick White was selected over him to replace Kawhi Leonard, including an allusion to Nike playing a role in his omission.

Team USA General Manager Grant Hill emphasized on The Dan Patrick Show that the choice of White over Brown was purely a ‘basketball decision’.

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

Brown responded to X on Sunday, criticizing the “conspiracy theory” comment.

“It’s disappointing that Grant Hill calls me a conspiracy theorist. I’ve been vice president since I was 21 and I know a lot about it,” he wrote.

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

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

At this point, Brown can only use his omission as motivation to help the C’s win next season’s championship. Between his Team USA, All-NBA and All-Defense snubs, there’s little doubt he’ll have a chip on his shoulder.

USA Basketball’s gold medal battle begins Sunday at 11:15 a.m. ET against Serbia.