USA Basketball Director Grant Hill has made his intention of not alienating Jaylen Brown from future Team USA selection abundantly clear, with Hill saying Brown will be a candidate for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics if he still wants to represent Team USA.
“There’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 is to not take anything personally. My objective is to win. Soon as, hopefully, that happens, we have to pivot and look ahead to the future.”
Grant Hill responds to the criticisms and controversies surrounding USA Basketball’s roster construction.
Watch his full sit-down with @Rachel__Nichols on our YouTube: https://t.co/qon0bbeM94 pic.twitter.com/hmSJi1e4Hd
— All the Smoke (@allthesmokeprod) August 7, 2024
There’s been a lot of bad blood between Hill and Brown this summer. Brown couldn’t hide his disappointment when he was passed over for Derrick White as the final member of Team USA after Kawhi Leonard was removed from the squad. This has led to a series of controversial comments from both Hill and Brown, as Brown and others alleged a Nike conspiracy was to blame, which led to Hill calling Brown a ‘conspiracy theorist.’
Nobody will worry about the decision to bring an inferior player like White to Team USA if they win. White has been good for the USA in limited minutes, having a more certain role on the roster than his superstar teammate Jayson Tatum, who has already received one DNP in the tournament.
Hopefully, Hill and Brown can build a relationship with each other once again, as many of the veteran stars on the 2024 roster likely won’t be around for the 2028 Olympics. Spots will be opening up, but Brown has to be willing to fight for those spots.
Grant Hill Personally Called Brown, Paul George, And Damian Lillard After They Weren’t Selected
Maintaining relationships as the director of USA Basketball is crucial, something Grant Hill realizes. He revealed in the same interview with Rachel Nichols that he personally called NBA stars such as Brown, Damian Lillard, and Paul George to explain why they hadn’t been selected.
“When we first put out the roster, before it was announced, I called certain guys. I called Paul George, Damian Lillard, and Jaylen Brown because I felt like they were of a certain stature where they deserved to hear it before the news was made public. I appreciated their willingness to be a part of this but also I wanted them to appreciate how difficult this was, but to me, that was leading with integrity. Doing the right thing, recognizing who they are, and what they’ve meant to USA Basketball in the past.”
Brown likely got this call during the NBA season and possibly understood the decision at the time. But by the end of the season, Brown was a Finals MVP and an NBA Champion who watched three of his teammates get USA call-ups over him.
Jaylen rarely stays quiet about anything, so he might even clap back at Hill for these comments if any lies are being told. Hill really doesn’t have an incentive to lie right now, but he does have an incentive to patch his relationship with Brown just in case he continues performing at the level we saw last season, leading to Team USA needing him for LA 2028.
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