And he's totally right, probably.
From Yahoo! Sports:
"It’s not my call. That’s on them. 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]."
Indeed, he's "not saying it's a Nike thing" but, um, it might be a Nike thing.
Because as much as international basketball offers a platform for athleticism-turned-patriotism, it's also an incredible marketing opportunity, and one that Nike's exploited for decades now. Every Team USA player except for Chauncey Billups, Derrick Rose, and Eric Gordon were signed to Nike. That certainly speaks to the shoe company's ubiquity, but it's also some pretty emphatic evidence corroborating Jennings' claim.
So is this just sour grapes from a young player that feels left out? Maybe, but when you consider the history—as well as Nike's stranglehold over USA basketball—he's probably got a point.
Not that I'm complaining, because, you know, this commercial kicks ass: