Derrick White says he doesn't have any hard feelings towards his Celtics championship teammate Jaylen Brown for his reaction to not being named to Team USA's Olympic roster.
In a recent interview with The Boston Globe's Adam Himmelsbach, White revealed that Brown reached out via phone to clear the air surrounding his frustration of not being included on the team currently competing for a gold medal in the Paris Summer Games.
"Jaylen gave me a call and I was like, 'Yeah, you didn't need to call me. I know we're good,'" White told Himmelsbach. "He gave me a call and said he just wanted to clear things up and I told him we're all good. Never any problem or issue with us, for sure. He's a hell of a player and I've never had a bad thing to say about JB."
Brown was noticeably upset with Team USA's decision to choose White over him following the withdrawal of Kawhi Leonard. Despite the All-Star wing taking to social media to comment about Nike and even saying "one day I'll share my story," when asked about being left off the Olympic team during the ESPYs, Brown did admit to calling White to explain that his reaction is in no way a slight against his teammate.
"I called Derrick right away," Brown told reporters earlier this month. "Just to make sure there's no confusion, my love for you and all of that. He knew that, and he did. You don't always gotta make everything public. Me and D-White are good. … My reaction was I was happy for D-White. Stoked to have so [many] of our guys on there. So I was happy for those guys. But I wasn't surprised."
While Brown expressed disappointment over not being selected, it was reported during the NBA Finals that White was a leading candidate to replace Leonard if the Clippers forward couldn't go to Paris due to rehabbing a lingering injury.
White was also surprised to get the late call-up when he was set to vacation in Cabo before meeting with Team USA in Abu Dhabi. Still, Brown insists that Nike, who sponsors USA Basketball had something to do with getting passed over for the Paris Olympic squad, likely for his criticism of the company in the past.
I do, for sure," Brown said during a Celtics Summer League win nearly three weeks ago when asked if he believed Nike had something to do with the decision not to be called. "There'll be more stuff to come of that. But, as of now, I'm not going to comment on it.
USA Basketball director Grant Hill, who Brown tweeted about this past weekend claiming being called a "conspiracy theorist," was on "The Dan Patrick Show" explaining that Nike has no say over who gets on the roster or not and that the decision that went into choosing White over Brown was simply a matter of positional need.
"Let's bring in someone who can really give us great defense at the point of attack," Hill told Patick on the decision to add White. "That was also a priority for putting this team together: Being able to pick up full court, guard, and pressure the point guard of opposing teams. Jrue Holiday might be the best in the world at doing this."But having some injuries we had during camp, what happens if Jrue gets hurt? Derrick White might be the second-best in the world at point-of-attack defense. That was sort of the thought process."
White is also playing alongside another familiar face besides Holiday in Jayson Tatum -- who received a DNP-CD during Team USA's 110-94 victory over Serbia during their first group stage game in Paris.
Despite Tatum not playing in the opener, White is happy to have both him and Holiday as part of his Summer Olympics experience as Team USA is seeking to win their fifth straight gold medal in men's basketball.
"It's always great to be on the same side with them and it's good to see them again," White told Himmelsbach. "They helped me when I got out here, helping me pick up the speed quicker. It's always good to be with them."
Team USA looks to go 2-0 when they face South Sudan on Wednesday, as tip-off is at 3:00 pm ET.
Joel Pavón
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