On Sunday, the U.S. men's basketball team will officially embark upon their journey to earn a fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal at the Paris Games with their first group stage matchup against Serbia. But the team still can't escape the specter of controversy that has loomed large since Kawhi Leonard went down.
Earlier this week, Team USA director Grant Hill appeared on the Dan Patrick Show to talk all things basketball and once again was asked about passing over Jaylen Brown for his Boston Celtics teammate, Derrick White, after Leonard withdrew from the team due to injury. Hill went further in depth than he ever has in breaking down exactly what went into the decision, explaining how Team USA discovering Bam Adebayo and Anthony Davis can play together resulted in more of a logjam than expected at forward and changed how the higher-ups viewed the roster.
Then Hill was asked if he spoke to Brown about it and ended up addressing the Finals MVP's claims that there were larger forces at play than merely basketball in the decision.
"I spoke to his agent. I don't know if that was before or after things went out on Twitter. But yeah, I mean, I think this idea that there's a conspiracy theory, I always love a good conspiracy theory. But it was really, truly a basketball decision."
His full interview is below, with the conspiracy comments coming at about the 2:45 mark:
Team USA Men's Basketball Managing Director Grant Hill details the decision to replace Kahwi Leonard with Derrick White instead of Jaylen Brown. pic.twitter.com/bCIphs3udn
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) July 26, 2024
Ever since the decision was handed out Brown has been publicly proclaiming that his past criticism of Nike was the driving force behind being left off the Olympic squad. So it was no surprise that he eventually got wind of what Hill said and fired back, tweeting on Sunday that it's "disappinting" Hill is labeling him a conspiracy theorist.
"grant hill calling me a conspiracy theorist is disappointing I’ve been a VP since I was 21 years old I have a great understanding," Brown wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) account.
grant hill calling me a conspiracy theorist is disappointing I’ve been a VP since I was 21 years old I have a great understanding
— Jaylen Brown (@FCHWPO) July 28, 2024
With Team USA playing games that matter beginning today, this story may fade quickly. But with Brown's willingness to dance in the eyes of the public, it could very well persist far longer than Hill or Team USA would prefer.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Jaylen Brown Fires Back at Grant Hill Over Team USA 'Conspiracy Theory' Comment.
