After Jaylen Brown publicly responded to the decision by USA Basketball to select Derrick White as the replacement on its Olympics roster instead of him, Brown texted his Boston Celtics teammate to make sure he knew it was not personal against him.
USA Basketball had decided to bring White to Paris after Kawhi Leonard was deemed not healthy enough to play.
Brown averaged 7.9 points and 4.1 rebounds for Team USA in the 2019 World Cup under Gregg Popovic. Sources said there were some questions about his ball movement and decision making.
Brown was critical on social media multiple times, revealing that the decision hurt him.
“That’s who Jaylen is,” one team source said. “He is not afraid to speak his mind. Jaylen has a constant chip on his shoulder and sees doubters everywhere.”