Boston Celtics wing Jaylen Brown is a thinker.
Brown took full advantage of his academic opportunities at Cal — that was immediately known in a 2016 story from ESPN’s Marc Spears. Now, as Brown plays in his fourth NBA season, his voice has continued to develop and become powerful.
He spoke with reporters Monday on a conference call about the Atlanta protests he participated in that have helped address police brutality.
According to NBC Sports Boston’s A. Sherrod Blakely, Brown didn’t want to play in the league’s Orlando restart at first, citing family reasons.
Brown has decided to play, though, and he said he respects any other player’s decision to not play. He and the Celtics will play their first seeding game July 31 against the Milwaukee Bucks.
“My decision was to play just because I felt like it’s bigger than me,” Brown said, per NBC Sports Boston. “And it’s bigger than my family, and it’s bigger than all of us. People have died for the opportunity to be able to shed light and speak on certain causes. The least I can do is play basketball.”
Brown’s ability to provide perspective is one of his greatest attributes. He also spoke on his thoughts regarding the social messages players can put on the backs of their jerseys during the restart. On Friday, Spears reported that the league and NBPA agreed to a list of messages that can be used.
Brown said he was “very disappointed” in how the league put a limit on the kinds of messages the players could have on their jerseys.
“I would like to see — because I think it can still happen — more options available to put on the back of our jerseys,” Brown said Monday in a video conference with reporters, per Darren Hartwell of NBC Sports Boston. “We understand anything vulgar our league doesn’t necessarily represent, but for histories and causes such as now, I think that that list is an example of a form of limitation. I think we should be able to express our struggle just a little bit more.”
With Brown using his voice and platform, he can be an important part of the NBA’s continued efforts to address racism and racial inequality.
