Celtics star Jaylen Brown was caught off guard during Celtics media day this week. As he took the podium to answer questions from reporters, Brown couldn’t help but show his surprise as he was asked about not being invited to join Team USA in the Paris Olympic Games.
Reporter: “Not getting called on for the Olympic roster there, how did that make you feel…”
Jaylen Brown: “God damn question #1?”
Reporter: “Right off the bat… Not a lot of chances here.”
Jaylen Brown: “Can’t warm up a little? Sh*t.”
Reporter: “Just your emotions overall, your feelings, are you carrying any of those feelings into the new season in terms of what is motivating you to win it?”
Jaylen Brown: “I’m ready to go. The past is the past but I’m ready to get after it, lead our guys, build some team chemistry, not skip any steps, and just set the tone for another year. I’m motivated for obvious reasons.”
Jaylen Brown was huge for the Celtics last season with averages of 18.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game on 48.0% shooting. he and his co-star Jayson Tatum led the Cs to the best record in the league before winning the NBA Finals together in July.
But even after the best individual season of his career, and a championship run to top it off, the biggest story for Jaylen Brown this summer was his snub from the Team USA Olympic roster.
Brown got to try out with the team this summer but it seems he couldn’t make the final cut over his own teammates, three of which ended up winning a gold medal (Jayson Tatum, Derrick White, Jrue Holiday). Even when Kawhi Leonard had to drop from the team, Brown was quickly overlooked to take his place.
Jaylen clearly feels that he could have helped the team and he eventually blamed Nike for ruining his opportunity. No matter the reasons, Team USA endured heavy scrutiny for excluding Brown (the reigning NBA champion) while also limiting the playing time of his teammate Jayson Tatum, who had several DNPs. Some even proposed that there was a bias against the Celtics on Team USA this year.
With the summer now over and a new season approaching, neither Brown nor Tatum are putting too much thought into the Olympics anymore. After seeing disrespect from multiple angles, the star duo will set out to remind the NBA world of what they can do this upcoming season.
As the reigning champions with the best starting five in basketball, there’s no reason the Celtics shouldn’t be favored to win back-to-back titles this season. As usual, Brown and Tatum will be the ones to lead the show and they have more motivation than ever to turn in their best season yet.
For Brown, who was the 2024 NBA Finals MVP, getting snubbed at that Olympics was a sign that he still has more work to do in order to prove himself and validate his claim as one of the game’s best two-way players. Jaylen is on a good track so far but he must avoid all distractions if he wants to repeat his success story from last year.
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