For Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics, winning an NBA title, being named MVP of the NBA Finals, and agreeing to one of the wealthiest contracts in NBA history could seem like plenty.
It wasn’t. Brown publicly criticized the decision to leave Team USA in favor of colleague Derrick White after it became known that Kawhi Leonard had been requested to depart before the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Bill Simmons, a podcast presenter and ardent Celtics supporter, responded to Brown’s remarks by criticizing them and emphasizing how discord in a team’s unity after a title may result in a dismal performance the following year.
Although Brown claimed to have later congratulated White on being selected to the team, his initial public response was to claim that his exclusion from Team USA was due to Nike’s partnership with the team. Brown has already expressed disapproval of Nike’s business methods.
Not only did Brown lead the Celtics to victory over the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals in 2024, but he also won the MVP award in the Eastern Conference Finals. In July 2023, he inked a $285.39 million, five-year contract deal with the Celtics.
On July 21, Simmons stated on The Bill Simmons Podcast, “They’re trying to do all these different things with (Team USA), and White made more sense for it.” Therefore, you have to frame any criticism that Brown may have, whether it be directed at Nike or something else entirely, by saying something like, “Derrick White is a fantastic player and a tremendous option. I find it disappointing that I was not given the opportunity to compete for a forward slot.
“Another way to phrase it that avoids giving the impression that you’re (expletive) on your teammate for being chosen ahead of you. That was not the type of thing that was occurring prior to them winning the championship.
Warriors Divided After Winning the 2022 Championship
Simmons cited numerous instances from NBA history to support his claim that a team’s chances of winning a title again might be derailed by internal dissatisfaction. The most notable and recent instance of this was when the Golden State Warriors upset the Boston Celtics in six games to win the 2022 NBA Finals.
A video of forward Draymond Greeen punching guard Jordan Poole during a Warriors practice surfaced at the start of the next season. After the Warriors’ season ended and they were eliminated from the Western Conference playoffs, Green and head coach Steve Kerr acknowledged that the team’s chances of winning another championship had almost ended.
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