Why Derrick White made more sense for Team USA than Jaylen Brown after Kawhi Leonard's withdrawal

Team USA is about fit as much as talent

Three Boston Celtics are playing for Team USA at the Paris Olympics. Jaylen Brown, widely considered the team's second-best player, is not among them. It didn't seem like much of a slight when the rosters were initially announced. The star-studded group had to make cuts somewhere when LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant all surprisingly agreed to play following the disappointment of the 2023 World Cup. Jayson Tatum still made the cut. Jrue Holiday would likely rank lower among all NBA players than Brown to most observers, but his stellar play for Team USA in Tokyo during the 2020 Olympics and his specialist skill set as a defensive ace made him a natural pick. Nobody called Brown a snub when the roster was announced during the season.

But when Kawhi Leonard withdrew due to a knee issue, Brown appeared, on the surface, to be an obvious candidate to replace him. He plays the same position as Leonard and shares similar physical dimensions. He is coming off of his first NBA championship and is a reliable, All-Star-caliber player. He even played for Team USA before, back in the 2019 World Cup. Team USA didn't medal in that tournament, but Brown's performance was largely acceptable. In the end, though, Team USA chose Brown's Boston teammate, Derrick White, to replace Leonard.

Brown seemingly didn't take that too well. When the news came out, he began tweeting cryptically. Eventually, he directed his ire towards Nike, the manufacturer of Team USA's uniforms.