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://stapledesign.com Spaceship Jay

    Your right about that JTaylor; at one point in last years playoffs, I faxed my cover letter and resume to Cleveland, applying for the head coaching job. True Story.

  • ab40

    yeah right. that team was loaded with guards. and any of those guys is better than jennings. he’ll probably think ontherwise. That’s another reason why he wasn’t picked he’s a bad character guy. Hell half the teams is sponsored by either peak or nike. So one guy who makes steph curry minutes aka 4 per game of less is nog biggy to em. He’s just jealous no biggie. Check out your roots and fina another country to play for cuz team usa doesn’t want you on it.

  • vtrobot

    @ Spaceship: I always say that too. Having those HOFers around you is really important (re: your stats), but equally as important is being a “sophmore” in the league with KG in your ear for the entire season. That can completely change your career. The luck of where people end up can make so much of a difference regarding their legacy or lack thereof. I’m looking forward to watching more of BJ now that they’ll probably televise more Bucks games this year. I wanted to see them do well when they were rolling at the end of last year. I was worried about a MIL/BOS match-up before the aussie went down.

  • http://aol.com Run’N'Gun219

    JTAYLOR -I HAVE TO DISAGREE WITH YOU AND AGREE WITH EVERYTHING THAT BOSTON_BLOGGER3R SAID. RONDO IS COOL BUT HE IS ALSO THE MOST OVER RATED PLAYER IN THE L.

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    the only spot that Jennings could have taken was Curry’s, and Curry is the better shooter.
    An invite wouldn’t have hurt though, just to stroke his ego.

  • http://stapledesign.com Spaceship Jay

    True Allenp, but the whole “Nike thing”… If that were true, why half-@$$ a full Nike team takeover? Nike’s a corporation at the end of the day.

  • JTaylor21

    @Spaceship, HA I bet that potato head intercepted the resume working his second job as mail courier. Even Steven Wonder could see just how bad the cavs offense scheme was.

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    Spaceship
    People love the big lie.
    It’s easier to blame Nike than his sub 40 percent shooting percentage and the fact that Luke Ridnour beat him out for crunch time minutes.
    You know?

  • Red

    What a whinny loser. Adidas was present on the team but I guess that doesn’t matter huh?

    Yeah right shut up, this is why you’re not on the team you’re known to try & get attention & not stay in a humble mindset.

  • http://stapledesign.com Spaceship Jay

    Yup, exactly Allen.

  • Saku 39

    Even though Nike is in bed with USA Basketball, there are a half-dozen legitimate reasons why Brandon didn’t make the team. Might as well mention this again – http://www.cnbc.com/id/25513177

  • Silent Storm

    Rondo is turnover prone? Deron Williams averages more turnovers per game than Rondo and is considered one of the top 2 points in the league. Rondo is one of the most intelligent players around and he acts accordingly on the court.

  • JCBlast

    Dude can’t shoot. The international teams would have just sat back and watched him miss from 3. Plus he can’t guard anybody, so what value would he bring. Nike doesn’t give a crap about Under Armour in basketball. Under Armour is just And One in a new package and without the mix tapes.

  • http://www.dontevenreply.com total scrotal implosion

    Nothn to this

  • http://google c_cantrell

    i love bjennings game and hes one of fav young players in the league but honestly everyone who made it deserved it ya know.. what guard would u rather have? billups or jennings? rose or jennings? westbrook or jennings? i dont think its so much to do with under armour bein his sponsor i think that the US jus didnt figure his game would translate well in fiba play and honestly they knew they had better options

  • CONEY ISLANDER

    Rondo couldn’t throw a rock into the ocean!

  • http://slamonline.com ordinary guy

    It is not outlandish for a major corporation to have major influences in domestic and international affairs, in a capitalistic society that is how things operate. Brandon Jennings is definitely on point with his perspective regarding Nike. Let’s not vilify him before we examine the structure of true capitalism and the power of the multi-national corporations.

  • http://slamonline.com tealish

    Or maybe Tyreke’s better than you, and Steph Curry is arguably as well. And for argument’s sake if Curry isn’t better, he’s for sure, far and away a better shooter than you and that’s great to have in international ball.
    So there’s that, but hey Nike’s evil and etc!

  • chazz michael michaels

    when i get into the nba im going to wear sketchers! and if all goes well in 2052 i will be wearing timberland boots :) yes nike will be out of style when ima be runnin ish

  • http://slamonline.com JL

    boston blogger is wrong… Rondo has a Assist to TO ratio of 3.2 for last year. Jennings only 2.3. Rondo handles it a lot more and dishes out more passes that leads to scores. If that’s not good to you, then what is. Look at Steve Nash at 3.0 Assist/TO. Paul’s last full season was at 3.6 Assist/TO. Just because you watch every game and see every assist doesn’t mean other players don’t make the same mistakes. I think rondo’s strengths overall are still better than jennings. Jennings shot 37% for the year. that’s very very low. Plus he seems to think he is a much better player than he really is. At least Rondo sticks to what he can do and shoots 50%. Jennings is OVERRRATEDDD!!! Even by himself.

  • chrisneww

    hes so cute.

  • http://twitter.com/pdxgaybball dma

    while i don’t doubt that nike held/holds more power than we realize (remember duke is also a nike team), i think jennings has some beef with nike itself, and they probably didn’t sign him when he was looking for endorsements. secondly, i think his attitude is what really kept him off team usa invites. he spurned the college game by going overseas, he has ‘twitter beef’, and now he’s complaining about being left off?

  • luv2ball

    Maybe they just took the top two in ROY voting?

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    This has turned into a bash Brandon or bash Nike thread and that’s missing the point.
    Nike has a lot of influence.
    Brandon still didn’t have a better year than Curry and Tyreke.
    It’s not about Brandon’s attitude(which is okay), or about his decision to skip college (which I loved), it’s about that fact that he hasn’t proven his ability to hit shots regularly and they already had enough cats with questionable jumpshots on the team.
    I mean, if Rondo got cut for Eric Gordon, does Brandon think he would have made the team?
    Like I said, the Team USA folks probably should have extended and invite, even if he wasn’t going to make the team. If Luke Ridnour can get invited to Team USA camp, then Brandon Jennings probably deserved and invitation after his rookie year.
    But he shouldn’t have made the team.

  • http://google c_cantrell

    ^il second that Allenp

  • Yesse

    Man, the sponsors are starting to ruin basketball even more.

  • Kevin

    I think the real reason is that Coach K most likely didn’t want someone who was real”Flashy”
    but someone who can actually play team ball and be humble…

  • http://www.google.com/news BETCATS

    While im not crazy about Brandon i see this for what it is; just 1 more thing he can use to motivate himself. Stay angry!

  • luv2ball

    @yesse

    Well the sponsors got us our first Gold medal in 14 years. I could see Jennings point if he was THAT good, but he is not. Curry and Evans are better plus, we had to many guards.

  • http://google c_cantrell

    i cant see how curry is better than jennings

  • luv2ball

    @cantrell- Curry was second ROY voting, and a better pure shooter. Jennings is an awesome talent, but that 55 he dropped set him up for higher expectations than he could manage. He is a horrendous shooter.

  • http://google c_cantrell

    curry is a better shooter and thats it.. he also played in the up tempo style of play of the warriors which inflated his stats of course.. if the two were to swap teams jennings would still be a stud an ellis would not put up near the numbers for the bucks as he did with the warriors.. jennings has also proved to be a much better leader via leading his team to playoffs as a rookie.. something no other rookie in the league accomplished last season

  • http://theurbangriot.com The Nupe

    I can see how BJ could feel ‘slighted’, I can also see how Nike could have played a part in it. However, it’s questionable if he was really slighted as he’s not clearly superior to any other guard on the team. Yes I think he should have at least gotten an invite and been able to compete for a spot, but not sure he would have made it. If Nike had it’s way, they would have made the team 100% Nike – at the end of the day, team USA still comes down to dollars and cents and if Nike consistently sponsors the team, then they should have some ‘influence’ on fringe/close decisions such as in the case of BJ.

  • LA Huey

    co-sign Allenp
    Young Buck should ask Rondo how being in Nike commercials this summer worked out for his place on Team USA

  • http://hibachi20.blogspot.com Moose

    …and corporations are quickly taking over basketball. How could shoe companies make any difference in the competition?? Either I don’t think his allegations hold any water, or it’s just downright sad.

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    be realistic people, its obvious Nike has an influence on Team USA starting 2006 – When Gilbert Arenas did not get a fair shot at the team. I highly doubt Nike is the sole reason Jennings didn’t get an invite – more or less it should be attributed to his inability to make a significant impact in games while he was in europe and his tendency to jack contested shots up wily nily. But Nike definately plays some sort of role, they are Team USA’s big sponsor as well.

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  • http://www.centercourtbasketball.com CCB

    As a small shoe company just starting out I’ve studied this and Jennings is possibly correct. To the guy that said the unis were champion, the warm ups were Reebok and both Barkley and Jordan made an enormous stink about wearing the warm ups and went as far as putting tape over the symbols or wearing towels in photos. Both guys mae sure that they had the rights to any photos to ensure that Nike was not put in bad place by their guys wearing Reebok in a photo. Jennings has a valid point also in that Nike has a reason to worry about UA rise to prominence. Google articles on why Nike should try to buy UA right now and you will be amazed at the outcome. If people don’t understand the importance of the shoe game in international play all they have to do is look back at the 84 Olympics and there is the defining moment in Nike’s rise to greatness in the shoe world. Converse was the sponsor but all over LA were Nike athletes on gigantic billboards. The same thing with the World Championship stuff in NYC that was all about advertising the new Nike Hyperfuse, not about hoops. I could write more but it would be way too long. Dude has a point. Think about the recent Olympic team photo with Dwight Howard who was the only Adidas guy and the fact that in the team photo his hand is covering what? The Nike symbol. You young cats that don’t think that Nike manipulates things are kinda naive.
    Chris B
    http://www.arch-usa.com

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

    I believe him. How does Stephen Curry get the nod but Jennings doesn’t even get invited to training camp or even a sit-down with some of the coaches?
    Also, Jordan and Magic and Barkley covering up the Reebok logo with an American flag after the Dream Team won is just stupid.

  • Chuckles

    We all know Brandon Jennings wasn’t selected for Team USA because the team was overloaded with point guards. To echo what others have said: If Rondo didn’t make the cut, then BJ didn’t stand a chance. With that said…

    WAKE UP, PEOPLE! Here’s the REAL reason Brandon Jennings was passed over: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PTP50LmIi4&feature=fvst

    Mu-wahahahaha!

  • LA Huey

    He should have got an invite to camp but its not like his presence would have made a huge difference. Dwight rocks adidas but is such a presence that Nike won’t be able to influence his spot on the team.

  • str8 from samoa

    yuuup! i agree with jennings! underarmour bout to blow up watch out!haha

  • http://www.slamonline.com Pardeep

    Yeah this is very believable, Nike is very dominant.

  • http://www.kb24.com The Seed

    LETS KEEP IT REAL, Brandon Jennings did play inconsistent, but so did Derek Rose, Stephen Curry, Chanuey Billups and Westbrook. All of these cats play inconsistent throughout the year. Billups play awful during FIBA. I TOLD YALL SO. ALso Rondo is not needed for this type of international play. Brandon Jennings would have been a better player than Rose, Curry and Billups on this team. A pairing of Westbrook and Jennings would have been sick. Brandon can shoot better than Rose, can get in the lane better than Curry and will shoot better from 3 point line than Billups. Jenning should have been on this team and its sad because as a rookie he help lead a team to the playoffs. BOOK IT!!!

  • Toni Kukoc

    who would want a guy wearing shoes with “underwear” name on them…think how the world views it, the population that does not know any brand names.

  • Wes-O

    I don’t think it’s like that Nike is grimmy and ther was probly a deal made to keep it Nike fam and coach k is Nike (duke) but the guard spot was full alot of guys showed up and he had to choose I would def like to see bj play for USA one day tho maybe this will give him alil bigger chip too show them what he got lol he did light up curry for 55 lmao even tho that’s my boy too

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

    Oh yeah, and Jennings is definitely not worse than Stephen Curry at all… He dropped 34 in his playoff debut, 2 away from Derrick Rose’s all time record. Jennings was inconsistent at times during the regular season but his guts and grit, and mix of athleticism and skill make him an inimitable talent.

  • johnpebenito

    this is legit! Nike even asked lebron to be respectful or else he will be cut before the olympics in china , Nike has a big say in Team USA basketball. his claim is very true, but also the team usa that went to turkey has a good chemistry brandon jennings comments is somewhat true, ask the sports writers. they know that NIKE has a say,

  • Izzy

    I don’t buy it…if team USA wanted him badly enough i think his shoe preference and/or sponsorhip deals with non-Nike brands are irrelevant. Sorry.
    37% FG shooter mebe?

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