“He’s probably going to be president of the PA at some point.” Before the restart, in fact, most of the social justice initiatives that the players’ association presented to the NBA-e.g., having the words Black Lives Matter printed on the court and stitching anti-racism slogans on the backs of jerseys-were his ideas, according to Roberts: “Fifty percent of what we ultimately landed on came from Jaylen.” Almost two years ago, at 22, Brown was elected vice president of the NBPA, becoming the youngest-ever member of the group’s executive committee. It was a powerful moment, but few of his colleagues were surprised. “I felt obligated to let Milwaukee know that I understood why they made the decision they made,” says Brown, “and I didn’t need that explanation from them.” In that meeting, several other teams were mad at the Bucks for not alerting them to their plans, but Brown felt compelled to stand up and say something in front of all the other players. “I could tell when I saw him that evening that we stopped playing that he was ready to pack up and go,” she says.) Then, a couple days later, the Milwaukee Bucks refused to play an afternoon playoff game against the Orlando Magic, prompting a three-day-long strike and an emotional players’ meeting on August 26. For Brown, the news deepened the conflict he felt about playing games inside the bubble, and he tweeted, “I want to go protest.” (Roberts could see the toll all of this was taking on the players-including Brown. A part of me still thinks like I made the wrong decision.”Īnd then, at the tail end of August, Jacob Blake was shot. Anxiety, depression, all that stuff that surrounds it. “I tried to use my platform to the utmost capacity that I could, to try to play basketball, bring awareness, and balance the daily rigors of just being in the bubble. “I still have mixed feelings about ,” he admits. For Brown, the bubble’s isolating restrictions made him question whether he could make any progressive impact while cloistered away from the real world. The stressors grew even more overwhelming in the aftermath of George Floyd’s and Rayshard Brooks’s murders, shortly before the season’s restart was announced. ![]() The LV capsule is designed around three key occasions in the life of an NBA player: press conferences, travel, and the all-important game arrival, where in recent years the cardigan has become a go-to move.Ĭardigan, $1,300, and shirt, $935, by Louis Vuitton Men’s He says he was both a beneficiary and a victim of an education system that he refers to as our “most aggressive form of racism.” Growing up, Brown was an inquisitive child who devoured Eragon and the Harry Potter and Lemony Snicket books. His father, Marselles, was a professional heavyweight boxer (and stands seven feet tall). Brown was raised just outside Atlanta by his mother, Mechalle, who’s a professor. He stared down at his chest and, after a minute or two, glanced up and proposed an alternative: Instead of three, could he pick four?Ī former Berkeley student who’s spoken at Harvard and was named a fellow at the MIT Media Lab, Brown represents a new generation of activist-athlete, as likely to organize a protest against police brutality (in May, he drove 15-plus hours from Boston to Atlanta to lead a peaceful protest for George Floyd, but more on that in a bit) as he is to throw down a 360 dunk in a game (which he did during a breakout playoff run this year). “Give me a sec.” Brown is one of the most thoughtful minds in the NBA, and at 24, he’s already emerged as one of its most enlightened voices on social injustice. “That’s a great question,” the young Celtics guard said, perking up. ![]() Our Zoom call was rounding the hour mark and our conversation had hit a lull, so I threw out what should have been a softball question: If you could have dinner with any three people in history, who would they be?
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |