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Despite being passed over for Team USA at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown isn’t going to become a member of the Nike family to potentially increase his chances at representing the national team in the future.

Appearing on The Stephen A. Smith Show (starts at 29:10 mark), Brown explained he would “pass” if he had to sign with Nike to make it on the U.S. team for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

The Celtics forward did make it clear later in the interview (59:20 mark) that he was “super happy” for his Boston teammates Derrick White, Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday to win gold with the U.S. and get to experience representing their country on the Olympic stage.

Brown’s main point was that he feels shoe companies have too much control over the industry, and he would like to see the focus be more on the athletes and their development as basketball players:

“I believe that we should focus more on our development of our youth and grassroots, and I think sports shoe companies should have less control over the industry. Right now, I was one of those kids, you know, I was a top player, number one actually. You came to one of my high school games, I remember that. I was a top player in high school, and there was so much to deal with—Nike, Adidas, going to an Adidas school, going to a Nike school—and kids should just be focusing on development.”

When Team USA had a roster opening two weeks before the start of the Paris Games because of a knee injury to Kawhi Leonard, Brown seemed like a natural option to replace him since they play the same position.

Brown was also coming off a terrific postseason run with the Celtics that saw him earn NBA Finals MVP.

Instead, the U.S. named Brown’s Celtics teammate White to the squad. Brown made no secret of his belief that he thought Nike—which has had an exclusive sponsorship deal with USA Basketball since 2006—played some role in the decision-making process.

Six of the original 12 players on the 2024 U.S. men’s team have sneaker deals with Nike. Two others are signed to Jordan Brand, which is a subsidiary of Nike.

The only non-Nike athletes on the roster were Leonard (New Balance), Anthony Edwards (Adidas), Stephen Curry (Under Armour), Joel Embiid (Skechers). White has a sponsorship deal with Nike.

Brown was previously critical of Nike and co-founder Phil Knight in 2022 when the company cut ties with Kyrie Irving for sharing a link to an antisemitic film on social media.

Grant Hill, who served as managing director for USA Basketball for the most recent Olympic cycle, told reporters after White was named to the team that the decision was only about “trying to put together the right pieces that fit and give us a chance to win.”

Brown launched his own sneaker brand 741 over the summer after reportedly turning down endorsement offers worth more than $50 million.

The U.S. team finished the Paris Games with a 6-0 record, capped off by a 98-87 win over France in the gold medal game. The victory marked USA’s fifth straight Olympic gold medal dating back to 2008.