Jayson Tatum Put In Awkward Spot With Jaylen Brown Questions

The Celtics have plenty of representation on the United States men’s basketball Olympic roster, but one glaring omission captured headlines this week.

Derrick White was chosen to replace Kawhi Leonard on Team USA, and Jaylen Brown’s snub had multiple pundits wondering why the Boston star didn’t make the cut. USA basketball managing director Grant Hill offered little details about the 27-year-old’s snub, but he rejected a theory that Nike played a role, which Brown seemed to believe.

Brown’s gripes with his snub likely have nothing to do with White. But the awkwardness of avoiding talking about White while acknowledging Brown’s omission seemed clear when Jayson Tatum was asked if he had spoken to Brown since Wednesday.

“Ah, no,” Tatum told reporters, per NBC Sports Boston.

It’s a tough spot to be in to praise one of your teammates while also trying to defend another. Tatum did acknowledge Brown’s absence from the team as best as he could.

“I mean, there’s so many guys that could take that last spot or whatever. Yeah, it is,” Tatum said.

Tatum, White and Jrue Holiday will try to help Team USA win the gold medal at the Summer Olympics while Brown likely will spend his offseason plotting his revenge tour against the other members of the Olympic roster.