"It is the most progressive league in the world and I'm proud the Celtics have really come out in support of their players"
Thursday 11 June 2020 14:33, UK
Jaylen Brown travelled 15 hours from Boston to his native Atlanta on Saturday to lead peaceful protests in wake of the unlawful death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
The Celtics star epitomised a professional athlete's societal influence as he addressed marchers on a megaphone, playing down any presumed sense of hierarchy surrounding his celebrity status in the process.
"First and foremost, I'm a black man and I'm a member of this community," said Brown. "We're raising awareness for some of the injustices that we've been seeing."
Brown, the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) vice president, hasn't refrained from speaking out about inequality in the past and has always been recognised for both his talent on the basketball court and his intelligence off of it. In fact, one NBA executive famously suggested Brown could be "too smart for the league" ahead of his arrival in the 2016 Draft.
"Isn't that a ridiculous thing to think that somebody because they have interests outside basketball they can't be a great basketball player? That has been Jaylen Brown's mission from the beginning," said NBC Sport's Boston Celtics reporter Abby Chin on The NBA Show.
"His message from the beginning is that 'I am more than just an athlete' and he is showing that in his actions right now.
"I was there on draft night when Jaylen Brown got booed by Celtics fans and the owner Wyc Grousbeck had to go up there and say 'guys it's going to be okay' and clearly it is now that he's in his fourth season.
"(Head coach) Brad Stevens said it yesterday, 'Jaylen will be great but the thing he impacts most on the world will not come on the basketball court'. He has so much more ahead of him and I'm just so proud to get to work with guys like Jaylen and Brad and the NBA as a whole."
"It is the most progressive league in the world and I'm proud the Celtics have really come out in support of their players."
While the NBA awaits news of a return date amid the coronavirus pandemic, Celtics head coach Stevens accepts that basketball is taking a back seat in light of Floyd's death.
Protests have taken place across America after Floyd suffered a cardiac arrest as a result of white police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on his neck for several minutes on May 25. Chauvin has since been sacked and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
Chin added: "I can tell you that Brad is passionate about these issues, this is something that came up a few years ago when there was controversy about Colin Kaepernick during NFL games.
"Speaking with Brad, the thing that stood out to him is that we all need to do so much more. Nothing has changed, there's no tangible change.
"People he works with every day in this league, young African American men. They're not seeing a difference so something needs to change and I think he felt very passionately about the need for him as a white man, a white coach to step up and say 'I see what you're going through, I feel the sadness you're feeling and I want to do anything I can to help."
