Jaylen Brown has accused Nike of ‘blacklisting’ him from the USA men’s basketball Olympic squad in a new music video.
The sportswear giant sponsors USA Basketball and manufactures their jerseys, and Brown – who has previously been critical of the company – was not included in the Olympic squad this summer.
And aside from his first rap song – a collaboration with FERG – being named ‘Just Do It’ in an obvious reference to Nike, the video takes a far more pointed shot at the company about 50 seconds in.
As Brown sits on a couch and watches a fictional news broadcast, an anchor can be heard saying, ‘Fans across the globe are reacting to the unexpected absence of Jaylen Brown in the Olympics.
‘…Just can’t seem to shake the feeling that Brown’s been blacklisted due to his ongoing conflict with Nike.’

Jaylen Brown is seen in his new music video for his rap song ‘Just Do It’ with FERG

Brown is seen in the video watching a fictional news broadcast that wonders whether Nike ‘blacklisted’ him from the Olympic squad
Brown, who won Finals MVP this year as his Celtics beat the Mavericks, was surprisingly snubbed for Boston teammate Derrick White when the Olympic team needed an injury replacement for Kawhi Leonard.
And Brown has previously suggested that there were political reasons for that decision, as he tagged Nike and wrote ‘this what we doing?’ as he reacted to the news.
He also posted a simple message to X with three monocle emojis when news of his snub broke.
Brown’s ‘blacklisting’ claim would likely derive from when he criticized Nike in 2022, after CEO Phil Knight said Kyrie Irving ‘stepped over the line’ when he shared an anti-semitic film on X.
‘Since when did Nike care about ethics?’ he responded.
However, since his deal with Adidas expired in 2021, he’s played without a shoe deal and has worn Nikes at times – albeit with their ubiquitous Swoosh removed.

Brown won Finals MVP as the Celtics took down the Mavericks but didn’t go the Paris Olympics
USA Basketball director Grant Hill strongly shot down Brown’s suggestions that his frosty relationship with Nike had anything to do with the decision for him to be left home.
‘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 and these are tough decisions,’ he said on the Dan Patrick Show.
‘But having gone through this with the FIBA competition, you want to find the right balance and the right pieces on the court that we needed.’
That remark irked Brown, who called the ‘conspiracy theory’ remark ‘disappointing’ on X and pointed out that he’s been the vice president of the NBAPA since he was 21.
Nonetheless, Team USA ultimately did just fine without Brown as they won all six games en route to a gold medal.
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