Jaylen Brown drops 3 emojis to describe Team USA snub as teammate Derrick White replaces Kawhi Leonard
Jaylen Brown seemed puzzled about Team USA choosing teammate Derrick White to replace the outgoing Kawhi Leonard. The announcement came on Wednesday as Leonard withdrew from the roster because of a recurring knee injury that derailed the final few weeks of his NBA regular season and the playoffs.
Brown and White were the leading candidates. However, the Americans opted to go with White instead of maintaining their star depth and choosing reigning Finals MVP Brown. The Celtics star dropped three monocle emojis to show his reaction on X, formerly Twitter.
Brown probably found it tough, considering he was an apt replacement for Leonard. He would have given the same amount of two-way contribution that the Clippers star would've offered.
However, Team USA already has too many stars. White appears to be a solid fit in that context as an off-the-ball player who can do a bit of everything without interfering with the team's stars' play styles.
Jaylen Brown wanted to play for Team USA in Paris Olympics
Jaylen Brown was among the stars who expressed a desire to play for Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics in October 2023. His comments came shortly after LeBron James, Steph Curry and others also showed interest in suiting up for the national team.
"Playing USA basketball, I think there's no greater honor," Brown said. "Playing for your country is definitely, coming from my community, coming from where I come from coming from where majority of out demographic come from, having an opportunity to represent that, your community, and the people that support you, I think that is a part of it as well."
Brown is yet to play for the USA at the Olympics. He played for the team during the 2019 FIBA World Cup, where the Americans finished a lowly seventh. They deployed a young roster with Brown, Jayson Tatum, Donovan Mitchell and others.
Derrick White was also on that team. Brown came off the bench, averaging 7.9 points on 45.6% shooting. He played 20 minutes per contest across eight outings, a respectable number considering the minutes on offer are much less than the NBA range.
Jaylen Brown was selected for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics player pool and the 2024 Paris Olympics player pool, too. He was a finalist in 2020 but was eventually omitted. Another snub might sting him, but Brown could be among the consensus picks when the USA plays in the 2028 Olympics.