When Jaylen Brown went third in the 2016 NBA Draft, Celtics fans could be heard booing and jeering. They wished the pick had been traded instead. It’s unseemly to snicker, but it’s all you can do when—almost a decade later—Brown has proven those fans so completely, hilariously, gob-smackingly wrong. There’s the two NBA Finals appearances, one of which resulted in a win for the team and with Brown being awarded the 2024 Finals MVP. Then there’s the All-Star call-ups, the first of which came in 2021, with three more following. Then there’s the rest of it: the dunks, the blocks, the shoes, the buckling crossovers, the community investments, the franchise loyalty, and, of course, the great pleasure of witnessing a spry, skinny guard from Berkeley metamorphose into one of the league’s most elegant and lethal players.
The 2024 NBA Finals was indeed the culmination of the promise that Brown had shown throughout his first few years in the league. His play in his early seasons, though precocious, encouraged the opinion from the bleachers that Brown was a trigger-happy guard, spectacularly athletic but not yet smart enough; too rushed, too ready to settle for a somewhat fugitive jump-shot. This provided a fascinating contrast to his reputation off the court as one of the league’s most articulate and inquisitive players.Then came 2024, which seemed to epitomise, in all its details, whatever it means for a boy to transition into a man. Brown’s game became less about maximising his own success and more about cultivating a grander plan, which, considering he’d just signed the largest contract in NBA history, was some feat of self-abnegation. He would have had every right—or rather, 285 million rights—to indulge himself in a few grandiose notions. Instead, his scoring in the 2023-24 season actually went down in comparison to the previous years. He had worked on altering his physique and focusing himself on the less glorious aspects of the game: help defence, guarding technique, working around the rim, bettering his positioning off-ball. After struggling to negotiate the concurrent rise of his fellow “Jay”, the six-time All-Star Jayson Tatum, 2024 found both players in as seamless a synchronicity as they had ever found. The Finals showed the best of this synchronicity, and featured, on Brown’s part, some of the finest moments of his career, almost all of them defensive.
And yet, when much of the NBA fanbase thinks of Jaylen Brown, they think of, well, a thinker. His academic excellence throughout high school and college, which one might fairly assume would have been a point in his favour amongst recruiters, was taken by some as a potential flaw. Will his febrile mind wander? Will he find basketball too one-dimensional? Will he commit the time to it that the nurturing of greatness requires? Brown’s thundering response has been a years-long demonstration of having it both ways: excellence on the court, erudition off the court. Amongst the various subjects on which he can talk over eruditely are design, entrepreneurship, fashion, herbalist remedies, and the joys of tea. He has also proven himself unafraid to wade in on social issues and has been a particularly vehement critic of the effects of corporatisation on player welfare. He even picked a fight with Nike—again, a sizable feat. Much of this fearlessness comes from Brown’s desire to learn about systems and philosophies bigger than himself, an impulse nourished at Berkeley but begun much earlier. In interviews, he often mentions the dedication to literacy and autodidacticism that his mother and grandmother fostered in him during his youth in Atlanta.
To borrow a well-worn basketball symbol, all this makes Jaylen Brown somewhat of a unicorn. For those unaware of Brown’s off-court peregrinations, he remains, at first glance, nothing more than one of the most rhythmic, capricious, versatile players in the NBA, a guard who can instantaneously shift from a well-oiled glide around the perimeter to an aquiline attack that penetrates the opposing defence. It’s the baller version of the Muhammad Ali-ism, “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. Though, in Brown’s case, there’sa little more to his sting than most.
| Elroy Rosenberg | Do you see basketball as your essence, the thing that encapsulates you? Or would it be more accurate to say it’s an activity that you channel your essence into? |
| Jaylen Brown | Basketball is something I channel my essence into; it’s not the entirety of who I am. I’ve always seen myself as someone with multiple interests, passions and capabilities. The game is one of the vessels where I express discipline, creativity and purpose, but it doesn’t define all of me. |
| ER | A General Manager once said you ask too many questions. Where does that inquisitiveness come from? |
| JB | I’ve always been curious, that’s just how I’m wired. I like to understand the “Why,” not just follow instructions because someone said so. Questioning things helps me grow, think independently, and navigate a world that doesn’t always encourage that kind of thinking. |
| ER | You say faith is one of your central tenets, along with consistency and hard work. Does your faith manifest itself on the court, or is it separate? |
| JB | My faith manifests itself in every part of my life; it’s the driving force behind everything I do. On the court, it shows up in how I stay grounded, how I lead, and how I handle adversity. Off the court, it guides my decision-making, my mission, and how I try to serve others. |
| ER | Lots of NBA players speak about having a “complete game,” but few actually do. After almost a decade of proving yourself as a two-way player, how do you continue to think about rounding out your skills? |
| JB | For me, it’s about staying healthy, being a leader, and making the people around me better. You can always improve—that’s the beauty of the game. As long as I’m having fun, staying locked in, and pushing myself, I’ll keep rounding out my craft year after year. |
| ER | When did you begin drinking tea as a means of resetting after a game? What does tea do for you that other remedies don’t? |
| JB | I don’t even remember exactly when it started, but I’ve always loved tea. It brings a sense of grounding and calm that’s different from anything else. After the chaos of a game, it’s a simple ritual that helps me reset— mentally, physically, spiritually. |
| ER | Everybody carries a piece of home with them. What part of being a kid from Georgia stays with you? |
| JB | Honestly, applesauce! [Laughs]. I’ve always loved applesauce, and I still keep it with me. But beyond that, being from Georgia taught me Southern hospitality, how to treat people with respect, and how to show up for others. That’s still a big part of how I move every day. |
| ER | You’ve said musicians had a great influence on you. Which musicians guided you, and what did their music do for you? |
| JB | Kanye’s first three albums were huge for me growing up. He talked about higher education, identity, and navigating a world that doesn’t always make sense—things I connected with deeply. His storytelling pushed me to think for myself and to carve my own path. |
| ER | What do you find challenging about playing for a team as famed as the Celtics? |
| JB | There’s definitely stress that comes with playing for a franchise with so much history and expectation. The standard is high, and the spotlight is constant. But that pressure can also bring out the best in you, if you embrace it. |
| ER | Do you attribute any special qualities to the number 7? |
| JB | For me, 7 stands for divinity—completeness, protection, alignment. It’s a number that’s always resonated with me on a deeper level, and it’s become part of my identity. |
| ER | 10 years into your NBA career, does it look the way you thought it would? |
| JB | Honestly, I feel like I’ve underperformed. I thought I would have more championships by now, and that’s something that still motivates me every day. That’s why I stay committed to the work; I still have a lot I want to accomplish. |
| ER | What do outsiders tend to get wrong when they think or talk about the NBA? |
| JB | I don’t know if there’s one specific thing, but people often forget that we’re human beings before anything else. There’s so much that goes on behind the scenes—mentally, emotionally, personally—that never makes it into the public eye. The game is only part of the story. |
*Credits