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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  • The Philosopher

    Shout put to Phil Knight’s clout.

  • The Philosopher

    *out*

  • http://kb24.com DreXnaW21

    First, i get what u mean BJ, but Nike and Adidas have been around longer than Under Armour

  • http://kb24.com DreXnaW21

    lol nvm not first :(

  • http://kb24.com DreXnaW21

    nvm not first :(

  • kash

    I think this is a legitamate claim. Nike is as cutthroat a business as any in America. This wouldn’t surprise me in the least.

  • http://www.twitter.com/hurstysyd Hursty

    Aaand queue character defammation of Brandon Jennings as a reason for his non-selection.

  • Groves

    im on BJ’s side

  • Overtime

    A shame that shoe companies have this much influence

  • Robb

    I think there were too many guards to chose from. This team didnt have much size, so inviting another guard didnt make a lot of sense. Regularity was probably another reason why he wasnt invited. Dont get me wrong I love brandon’s game, but this was not his time yet.

  • Robb

    I think there were too many guards to chose from. This team didnt have much size, so inviting another guard didnt make a lot of sense. Regularity was probably another reason why he wasnt invited. Dont get me wrong I love brandon’s game, but this was not his time yet.

  • cool j

    Is he retarded or something? I have got news for u Brandon,probably more than half of the players are signed by Nike.
    Yeah right …coach K and Colengelo picked players based on their sponsorship deals?! BJ quit smoking whatever you have been doin…

  • http://Slamonline.com Pippen Ain’t Easy

    in other news…..
    Yao Ming: PEAK kept me off Team China

  • http://thekobebeef.wordpress.com LDR4

    Maybe he didn’t get invited because he play was inconsistent towards the end of the season. Plus he does not have an accurate long ball which is what the team was looking for out of backup guards which is why they took Curry to Turkey. Just saying. Jennings will get his shot to make the roster one day, wouldn’t be surprised if he was invited to camp in 2012 to prepare for London. But Nike does have an unfair advantage in the branding game of USA Basketball. At least they keep ads off the jerseys.

  • http://stapledesign.com Spaceship Jay

    Perhaps Coach K youtube’d your Lady Gaga performance.

  • Ronald

    Honestly, the only reason I can think of why he wasn’t invited (and I don’t think it’s because he doesn’t fit the team, he’s mote suited than d-rose in that tram) is because they knew exactly how he would fare against the international players fr his stint in Europe, and you might as well take a chance with Westbrook (who did very well) and Rose (who didn’t do very well as expected) and hope they do well in the international game.

  • http://www.google.com The Big Fundamental

    LOL @ Pippen Ain’t Easy

  • Ali

    Yeah the lady gaga vid was suspect foe sho! Stay away from vid cameras and twitter young fellaz…

  • CONEY ISLANDER

    I guess team USA follows the “Don’t ask don’t tell” policy too.

  • theedit

    At least get your facts right – the 1992 Dream Team uniforms were made by Champion not Reebok.

    …and yes Brandon is right IMO though I think Curry got in for being a specialist shooter and Tyreke would have made the team for being a big guard. Jennings isn’t a specialist shooter or a big guard (USA needed size), so that would have made it easy to snub him for not being a Nike guy.

  • http://slamonline.com GotHandles?

    sad, but probably true.

  • http://hurricane823@yahoo.com jusitn

    probly true

  • Dagger

    Um, Jennings simply wasn’t good enough to be on a team that essentially cut Rondo (a vastly superior player). Maybe when Jennings shoots over 40% he’ll have a point, until then he’s just another over-hyped young player who’s accomplished nothing and has an apparent attitude problem.

  • tony

    allen iverson, stephon marbury…….nuff said

  • MikeC.

    Dude’s J is broken right now. Sure he’s streaky and can heat up, but FIBA revolves around guards that can shoot from deep to be zone-busters. They already had Rose, Westbrook and Rondo to choose from. Those guys are all suspect from deep, and at this point, better and more reliable than Jennings. Tighten up that Js young fellas. If Team USA has a group of PGs to choose from that includes: Rose, Westbrook, Rondo, Williams, Paul, Jennings, Curry, and Evans for 2012, some very talented, and possibly All-NBA talent will be left at home.

  • JoeMaMa

    “Uh, Brandon, it’s Isiah on the phone. He says he’d like to bond with you over your snub. He also wants to know if he can maybe…run your team.”

  • http://gmail dirty frank

    Well said Dagger & LDR4. Curry is a shooter. Reke got the invite because of his size and ability to play the 1 or the 2.

  • JTaylor21

    @JoeMa, if BJennings can even be half the player that Zeke was he would’ve made the team. Apart from the 55 point game, dude was average for the rest of the season, he’s too much of a streak shooter and doesn’t do a GREAT job of creating plays for teammates.

  • http://stapledesign.com Spaceship Jay

    And the Euro-guards woulda thrown him around like a rag doll on the defensive end. That’s why Stephen Curry only played in spurts.

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    JtTaylor
    He was average towards the end of the season, he was great out the gate until teams stopped letting him come off high screens wide open.
    Once that stopped, his play dropped a lot.

  • rob stewart

    Bj is the lightest guard (only 169lbs) other than Curry. The international game is a very physical game which is why Westbrook and Gordon were so valuable.

  • Javy

    This is how we got in a bad economy, big guys like Nike doing waht they want to stop the little mom and pop’s shop from making a buck!!!

  • JTaylor21

    @AllenP, that’s exactly what I was saying, once teams figured his tendencies out, it became harder for him to control the game like he was doing early in the season. That’s why the comparison between him and a young AI is stupid.

  • http://thosefishtacosarethetits.blogspot.com Boston_Blogg3r

    I would think he would fit in well in FIBA. He has more experience with the international game than any other member of Team USA.

  • JTaylor21

    @Javy, why do people despise companies that are smart and make GREAT business decisions. Is it nike’s fault that they are the best and most reliable shoe company while others have faltered.

  • http://thosefishtacosarethetits.blogspot.com Boston_Blogg3r

    I would not say Rondo is “vastly superior” to Brandon Jennings, by any means. Rondo is very turnover prone and while many may call Jennings a “streaky” shooter, Rondo isn’t even that. Their strengths are in driblle-drive penetrations. Jennings is a MUCH better passer and has better ball-handling control. Now, if one would have said that Rondo was a vastly superior DEFENDER, then I would agree. Brandon Jennings led a broken-down Bucks team to the playoffs last year, alongside Andrew Bogut and John Salmons, and nearly knocked off the heavily-favored Atlanta Hawks sans his likely to be All-Star Center. Rondo’s had the benefit of playing with guys who over-shadow his ball-handling, passing, and, to a lesser extent, shooting deficiencies. I like Rondo, but without KG, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce, he’s above-average at best.

  • JTaylor21

    @B-Blogg, I don’t think that BJ’s a better passer than Rondo. Rondo has better court vision and makes better decisions with the rock. They only thing BJ has on Rondo is his scoring and shooting touch, everything else Rondo owns him.

  • http://thosefishtacosarethetits.blogspot.com Boston_Blogg3r

    @JTaylor21: I have the benefit of watching every Celtics game each season, and I’m a die-hard C’s fan so I am either watching or attending. Rondo is VERY turnover-prone and he often chooses to make the flashy pass than the smart one. Even in the playoffs, this was evident. On more than one occasion, Rondo would over-throw a lob pass or try to force a pass through traffic when another one of his teammates would be wide open. If he had “better court vision,” these instances would be few and far between.

  • http://thosefishtacosarethetits.blogspot.com Boston_Blogg3r

    And I’m not trying to argue that Brandon Jennings is Chris Paul (a guy who NEVER turns the ball over and has incredible court awareness), but Rondo’s deficiencies are masked by his teammates.

  • JTaylor21

    @B-baller, you have a point but great/flashy passers like magic and JKidd also were turnover prone, it just comes with the territory of trying to make the flashy pass and trying passes that the regular point wouldn’t dare try.

  • The Lord of Nsam (formerly known as Fresh Prince)

    Pippen ain’t easy, LMAO! (But team China also wears Nike).
    BJ, DRose is 1 of the main faces of Adidas right now (like Billups and Eric Gordon also doesn’t wear Nike). So it’s a Nike/Adidas conspiracy, right?

  • http://thosefishtacosarethetits.blogspot.com Boston_Blogg3r

    I’m not against style-over-substance by any means. Jason Williams is one of my favorite players ever, but J-Will in Memphis still made fancy passes on occasion, while also playing a lot smarter. He led the league in assist-to-turnover ratio at least one of his years there and was among the leaders since then. Rondo needs to learn how to let the game come to him and not force it so much. He can be great, if he figured out a way to do that.

  • Dagger

    Yeah. Rondo has almost 10 assists/game and scores at over 50%. Those are great offensive numbers for a point guard. He also rebounds well and, like you said Boston Blogger, he’s an exceptional defensive point. He’s also an NBA champion and has taken over entire playoff series offensive and defensively. Jennings shoots 37% and doesn’t even average 6 assists/game. Much of his reputation is built on his 55-point game, but since then he crashed until late in the season. Sorry, but right now this is not a close comparison.

  • http://www.fiba.com Darksaber

    Child please… Step away from the Mic/Phone/tape recorder cause you is tripping. Nonsense accusation.

  • http://stapledesign.com Spaceship Jay

    My homeboy and I have this argument often; If Rondo would have been drafted to the Warriors, would he be nearly as relevant? My bets are always no.

  • http://thosefishtacosarethetits.blogspot.com Boston_Blogg3r

    Thank you Spaceship Jay.

  • http://slamonline.com The Black Rick Kamla

    Maybe he is reaching a bit, but lets be honest, why wasn’t he brought into camp at least???

  • http://thosefishtacosarethetits.blogspot.com Boston_Blogg3r

    In other (and more important) news, today is Primary Day so if you’re registered to vote, I’d like to offer a reminder to go do so. These elections are, in some ways, more important than the national elections as they are more likely to effect you and your communities.

  • JTaylor21

    @Spaceship, you’re probably right because the Warriors and Dr. Frankenstein prefer a scoring/shooting PG than one that plays DEFENSE. That’s why a player progression depends so much on the kind of team and coach he goes to. Most coaches are idiots because they don’t know how to take advantage of players skill sets, look at a guy like Mr. Potato head with bron, chuck has been saying for years that the cavs should push the ball more and speed up the pace to take advantage of bron’s ability instead of running that half court pick and roll bullsh*t they ran but potato head never listened and it cost the cavs a chip.

  • unrel

    i can see how that could be possible.. but i really don’t think nike is worried about under armour.. BJ shouldn’t have made the team.. but he should have gotten an invite, for sure..

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