Brad Stevens comments on Jaylen Brown Team USA drama and potential future

The Boston Celtics were in the news this summer, but not because they won a championship. That discourse only lasted a week or so, and once the 2024 Olympics came around, it was Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum who got their names thrown around.

Steve Kerr benched Tatum for multiple games, but Brown didn’t even make the team. Even when Kawhi Leonard got cut, Derrick White got the call instead of Brown.

Since then, Brown has questioned the motives behind the decision multiple times. It’s clear he believes something fishy is going on, but a lot of people around the basketball world think Brown should have been on the team.

Celtics POBO Brad Stevens on the Jaylen Brown drama with Team USA: '
I just tell everybody how great our guys are'

In an interview with Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe, Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens commented on the drama between Team USA and Brown. He also spoke about a potential future of Brown and Team USA.

“I just tell everybody how great our guys are, and then I stay out of it. I think that’s my role,” Stevens said. “I think Jaylen could be on any Olympic team any given year. He could be a featured part of those teams. I saw [USA Basketball director Grant Hill] said he’d love to sit down and talk to him about being part of that pool in ‘28, whatever that may be.”

Stevens also spoke very highly of Brown as a player and a person.

“But I think Jaylen is one of the best players in the world,” Stevens said. “And one of the best things about Jaylen is whether he gets the call and makes the team or doesn’t get the call, he’s going to use it as motivation to get better. So I know he’s working and he’s excited about improving. I think he’ll truly embrace the challenges that come with winning last year. That’s who he’s always been. And this will probably add more fuel to his fire. But he doesn’t need much fuel added. He finds it.”

Whether or not Brown will be on a Team USA Olympic roster is yet to be seen. There’s a chance he may not even want to play for them anymore. But it’s clear that Stevens has a ton of confidence in his guys. As he should.