Tuesday, September 14th, 2010 at 9:00 am  |  111 responses

Brandon Jennings: Nike Kept Me Off Team USA

by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni

Despite his stellar — and at times, downright spectacular — rookie season, Brandon Jennings didn’t get so much as a glance from Team USA officials. The fact that fellow rookie point guards Tyreke Evans and Stephen Curry did understandably irks him.

Jennings thinks he knows why he got the snub, and according to Brandon, it’s got to do with him endorsing the wrong sneakers.

Yahoo! reports:

Brandon Jennings established himself as one of the NBA’s top young guards last season, but that wasn’t enough for him to get invited to try out for the U.S. world championship team like fellow rookies Tyreke Evans and Stephen Curry. Jennings thinks he knows one of the factors why. Evans and Curry both wear Nike, Team USA’s big sponsor. Jennings wears Under Armour shoes.

“It’s not my call. That’s on them,” Jennings told Yahoo! Sports. “But if you want to get technical about it and you really want to look at it, half of the guys there are Nike guys. I’m not saying it’s a Nike thing, but Nike is kind of running a lot of things right now. To have a guy like myself on the USA team that’s flashy and really outgoing, you don’t want Under Armour to get all that [publicity]. “I’m just telling you how it is.”

There’s always been a certain uneasiness around the fact that shoe giants play such a major role in the Team USA process — remember Michael Jordan and others covering the Reebok logo with the U.S. flag at the ’92 Olympics?

Jennings’ allegations will only serve to feed that fire.

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  • http://thetroyblog.com Teddy-the-Bear

    Izzy, of course if he was as big a star as LeBron James he would have made the team regardless (had he wanted it). But we’re talking players–rookies, nontheless–of close caliber. The gap between Jennings and some of the other players like Curry especially is not that big–and many would consider Jennings better. When it’s that close and it comes down to the two of them, and Nike has a huge sponsorship role, you don’t think that would influence it… At all? So Curry MAKES the team and Jennings doesn’t even get a sit-down to TALK to the coaches? There is definitely more power in the hands of the sponsors than many of us give them credit for.

  • Red

    He sucks plain & simple.

  • http://www.threadsandkicks.com.au Eduardo

    BJ’s got a fair point. He did spend a year in the Euro league so he understands International Ball already.

  • RIGGS

    people seriously can’t read, HES TALKING ABOUT BEING INVITED TO THE DAMN THING, not being put on the team just. being. invited. cot damn.

  • Pingback: SLAM ONLINE | » Jerry Colangelo on Team USA Selection Process

  • http://TWITTER.COM/K1NGTUT TOMMY V

    Some of you guys and your measurements of talent is suspect. For one, Jennings is a streaky shooter but is more explosive than all the guards you all named, minus westbrook and rose. His knock was his shooting. Other than that, he was the “LEADER” of that bucks team. When Bogut was injured a month and a half before the playoffs, they kept winning. Salmons and others stepped it up, but every time the bucks took the floor, Teams focused on stopping jennings, who is a flashy passer, but he is NOT turnover prone. Much credit to the dude who shouted out White Chocolate’s memphis years. He led the league in assist to turnover ratio his second year there. his first year he was like 3rd and was ridiculed for being a turnover prone pg. smh.

    Brandon Jennings did fit the rest of his teams attitude and thats why I believe he wasnt invited. Think about every player on team usa, they are all rather quiet players off the court. Brandon is flashy and would have took away from the team aura with his flashiness. Tyreke evans can handle the ball but he is not a pg and doesnt play it very well.

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    I stand corrected that Jennings only wanted an invite. He’s perfectly right to complain.

  • Dre

    Boston_Blogg3r, I hate to re-hash old stuff but you were so wrong about Rondo and B. Jennings it is not even funny. He is so much better than Jennings right now it is not even funny his court vision, defense, decision making is vastly better. BJ just shoots better that is it. I am not sure what Celtic games you have been watching my friend. Yes, I know it was before the season but even last year as well.

  • http://yahoo.com lp

    …how stupid does this sound, now that they’ve won the gold AND Jennings had an unforgettable season shooting 39% from the field…coulda got Marbury for that….

  • sanman

    Maybe it’s more than that. Maybe because Jennings didn’t go through the college system to get to the NBA and instead opting out to play in Europe??

  • http://www.onitsukatigermexico66.us onitsuka tiger mexico 66

    this is a legitamate claim. Nike is as cutthroat a business as any in America.

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