• Jaylen Brown: "First of all, I'm a black man"
  • Kerr vs. Trump: "Racists Should Not Be Allowed to Be Presidents"

What for most would be praise, for Jaylen Brown (Marietta, Georgia, 1996) soon became sambenito. The boy "too smart" for the NBA, as he was baptized by an executive of one of the franchises that took an interest in him before the 2016 draft. The boy who had preferred the academic level of the University of Berkeley , in California, to the pedigree basketball of others. The youngest vice president in the history of the players union (NBPA). The guy who on Saturday became the voice of the "peaceful" protest of so many athletes in the middle of the storm unleashed by the racial murder of George Floyd at the hands of policeman Dereck Chauvin in Minneapolis.

The Celtics forward, not yet 24 years old, drove for 15 hours from Boston to Atlanta to lead the rally, megaphone in hand, banner with the slogan "I can't breathe," in images they soon gave to the Around the world after seeing himself through the window of his social networks. Where he is used to displaying his cultural interests, philosophical phrases in a strange account, FCHWPO, which is not a handful of random letters: "Faith, Consistency, Hard Work Pays Off" [Faith, consistency, hard work deserves the pain]. Nor was the chance to choose the capital of Georgia, a few kilometers from his hometown, where Martin Luther King had also been born.

Brown's initiative, supported at street level by some colleagues like Malcom Brogdon and Justin Anderson - other players like Tobias Harris and Dennis Smith Jr. did it in other cities - and also by rapper Lil Yachty, is in keeping with his nonconformist spirit. and restless. He speaks Spanish and intends to handle three more languages ​​before he is 25. He is passionate about history, meditation and philosophy. Chess (joined the Berkeley club), piano, and guitar. In addition to being a declared and unconditional fan of Barcelona and Leo Messi. “Being a celebrity, being an NBA player, doesn't exclude me from any conversation. First and foremost I am a black man and I am a member of this community. We are raising awareness of some of the injustices that we have been seeing. Our voices have to be heard. I am 23 years old. I don't know all the answers, but I feel how others feel, "he explained.

Isiah Thomas

"I understand that overly informed athletes can intimidate people," he had protested then, still not turning 20, when he decided to do without an agent, an unusual event that raised the controversy, and lead the interviews with NBA teams himself. They wanted him, without biting his tongue to ask their questions and preferring to wear a suit and tie face to face, unlike the usual sportswear of their peers. Because a smart guy was suspicious. And what would be one more attribute to add to his wonderful physical conditions (2.01 meters) and techniques, could penalize him. Finally, thanks to the advice of, among others, the legendary Isiah Thomas, he was chosen in third place in that draft, behind only Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram.

The son of a professional boxer , heavyweight Quenton M. Brown, and the cousin of an NFL player (AJ Bouye, of the Broncos), Brown had spent the NBA shutdown in Boston, training alongside his 78 years. His image will be forever linked to the search for social justice. "He is a scholar as well as a player," Cuonzo Martin, his manager at the Golden Bears, used to say.

Jaylen, who played the China World Cup last summer with the USA Team just before signing a succulent five-year, $ 115 million contract, soon became interested in the rights of the players, negotiations with franchises and with 22 years he became part of the Players Association chaired by Chris Paul. He has also given talks at Harvard as part of the Master's program at the university's School of Education. There he already anticipated some social concerns. Friday he had called Floyd's death "an act of terrorism."

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