USA Basketball director Grant Hill hopes to clear the air with Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown. Brown took issue with not being selected as a replacement on the 2024 Paris Olympics roster after Kawhi Leonard withdrew from the team. Team USA elected to choose Brown's Celtics teammate Derrick White for the open roster spot, leading to Brown calling out USA Basketball and Nike, the official apparel brand for Team USA.
Brown implied on social media that Nike was the reason he was kept off the team, to which Hill responded at the time, saying in part, "Whatever theories that might be out there, they're just that. But that's my responsibility. And it's tough. It's tough to have conversations, tell people that they're not on the team."
Brown then shot back on social media, calling out Hill, saying, "Grant Hill calling me a conspiracy theorist is disappointing. I've been a VP [of the NBPA] since I was 21 years old I have a great understanding."
While the dust had settled on the situation since the Olympics started, Hill said on the Open Run podcast with Rachel Nichols that he hopes to talk with Brown and that he will be considered for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
"When you have a team with the profile of players on this team, you know there's going to be controversy. You know that coming in, I knew that. I think what people fail to realize is I'm a fan of basketball, and I'm a fan of these guys that are playing in the current era...My whole approach is to celebrate the greatness of today's players. So yeah it was disappointing. You gotta do your job, I've tried to do this the right way. When we first put out the roster back in April, before it was announced, I called certain guys. I called Paul George, Damian Lillard, Jaylen Brown, I felt like they were of a certain stature where they deserved to hear it before it was made public. And I appreciated their willingness to want to be a part of this, but also wanted them to appreciate just how difficult this was. To me that was leading with integrity, doing the right thing, recognizing who they are, what they've meant to USA basketball in years past."
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"It's a lot of noise, I'm confident he and I will sit down at some point and talk about it and get to some level of understanding. He'll be a candidate, if he wants, in 2028. One thing I've learned, you can't take anything personal in this role. I haven't personalized anything, my objective, my goal is to win. And as soon as, hopefully, that happen, we pivot and start looking ahead to the future."
Brown certainly has the resume to make the USA Basketball roster, especially after this season, during which he finished as an NBA champion and Finals MVP while leading the Celtics throughout the postseason to their first title since 2008. But making the roster for USA Basketball is the most difficult team to make, given all the talent. You could argue that he should've been named the replacement over White, but there were very good reasons to have White on the roster over Brown, too.
While Team USA looks on pace to earn its fifth straight gold medal, the 2028 Olympics will be a total change of guard for the men's basketball team. LeBron James could be retired, and Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry will be 39 and 40 years old, respectively, so naturally, there will be more room for Brown to be on the roster. Hill sounds more than ready to bury the hatchet; we'll just have to see if Brown is willing to do the same.