Jaylen Brown has been a key contributor for the Boston Celtics over the last three years, but perhaps his biggest impact has been made off the court.
The 23-year-old recently has made his voice heard in the wake of George Floyd's horrific murder at the hands of a Minnesota police officer. Brown drove 15 hours from Boston to Atlanta to organize a peaceful protest and has been vocal about police brutality as well as the racial injustice that remains prevalent in the United States.
Brown has made his fellow Celtics proud, including head coach Brad Stevens and owner Wyc Grousbeck. On Saturday, Grousbeck talked to WBZ-TV's Dan Roche about the "special person" Brown is.
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“Since day one when I met Jaylen, back in (2015), it was so obvious that he’s just special – a special person with special character,” Grousbeck told Roche. “He has educated me, to be perfectly honest. I’ve spent time talking with him and a couple other players in-depth over the last few days because I’ve realized I have a lot to learn, that I thought I knew and I didn’t know, just to be honest.
"And so, I’ve spent time listening to Jaylen, talking to Jaylen, trying to learn from Jaylen to be perfectly honest. I didn’t know that I would have, really, but the whole situation is shocking and surprising and stunning and disappointing and all of that. Jaylen might be a way for us to sort of move forward. He is a very, very good person with a very good conscience.”
Watch below:
It's clear Brown set an example for his C's teammates and fellow Boston athletes with his peaceful protest. Marcus Smart, Enes Kanter, and Vincent Poirier followed suit with their own protest in Boston, and Bruins captain Zdeno Chara did the same.
That's what real leadership looks like.
