Boston Celtics player Jaylen Brown is using his superstardom to bring about change and shine a spotlight on racism. He has become one of many professional basketball players who have been using their platforms to speak out against discrimination and social injustice, especially since the start of the 2019-20 season, which began just a month after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
In fact, Brown, who is a member of the National Basketball Players Association’s executive committee, is so committed to the cause that he drove 15 hours from Boston to Atlanta on May 30th to lead a peaceful protest against injustice and police brutality in the wake of Floyd’s killing, announcing to the crowd, “First and foremost, I’m a Black man, and I’m a member of this community.” Indiana Pacers guard Malcolm Brogdon, Brooklyn Nets guard Justin Anderson, and rapper Lil Yachty joined him during that march.
“As athletes, our job at the least is to continue to keep these conversations going,” Brown said to The Undefeated. “We’re not political elites. We’re not politicians. We’re not educators. But we’ve got influence, and we care about our community. What we can do is enhance the people whose voices need to be enhanced and also use our influence to keep these conversations going. As athletes, while we’re down here, we’ve got a tremendous opportunity to play while the whole world is watching.” He went on to say, “It’s a responsibility for us to show we’re playing basketball through a pandemic. But we’re playing because we want to show solidarity or show awareness to the things that’s going on outside the world here. Even though we’re in a bubble, we ain’t gotta act like it.”
On August 2nd, after scoring 30 points in a win over the Portland Trail Blazers, the 23-year-old spoke to the media wearing a white T-shirt with a smiling kid shooting a basketball that read, “Shoot hoops. Not people.” During the post-game interview, he expressed his disdain for the national anthem before mentioning his impressive performance that night.
“Angela Davis once said that racism is so dangerous, not because of individual acts. It’s dangerous because it’s deeply embedded in the apparatus,” Brown said to reporters. “I think about that quote a lot. I think about the national anthem. It was written by Francis Scott Key, who was a slave owner. ”
Celtics coach Brad Stevens also spoke of his admiration of the rising star and his efforts, recognizing that he is much more than just a basketball player.
“Jaylen’s greatest impact, as good as he is at basketball, won’t be in basketball,” Stevens said back in June. “He’s a special guy, a special leader. He’s smart, but he has courage.”
Part of Brown’s urge to fight for the rights of those oppressed stems from his life before the NBA, where the struggle was the norm.
“Most of us come from humble beginnings, and just because we escaped the barriers that society has put up doesn’t mean we should forget about the people who won’t or didn’t,” said Brown. “It took a lot for some of us to make it to the NBA. It wasn’t cake for me, or an easy path for me to get here, growing up in the neighborhood that I grew up in, the school system, single-parent household. There was so much stuff telling me that I shouldn’t be able to make it. Despite it, we’re here.”
The 2016 first-round draft pick also spoke on those who may feel that a successful pro-baller has little to be upset about.
“Poverty, incarceration rates, Black fathers that’s not around, the education system or the lack thereof. … It makes it hard for somebody of color to actually be successful. But I guess when we get to those points of success, they tell us to be quiet. ‘What do we have to complain about?’ But they’re tone-deaf to everything it took for us to get into this spot. People expect me, because I made it to the NBA or I make a certain amount of money, I should be quiet. Well, I’m not.”
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